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A. Terms of reference
of the Committee
1. The Committee on Statistics and the Working
Group of Statistical Experts have had extensive
discussions in recent years on the terms of
reference and functioning of the Committee.
At its ninth session, held in 1994, the Committee
reviewed its terms of reference and agreed on
the text that appears in annex I to the present
note. The Committee was ready at that time to
recommend that text to the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific; however,
in the light of the review of the conference
structure of the Commission [Footnote: [ In
this note all references to "the Commission"
refer to the Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific unless indicated otherwise.]]
scheduled for the fifty-third session in 1997,
as envisaged in Commission resolution 48/2 of
23 April 1992, it decided that it would consider
reviewing its terms of reference again at the
tenth session, on the basis of a report by the
secretariat. It would then make appropriate
recommendations to the Commission.
2. The bureau of the Committee
on Statistics, meeting in January 1996, examined
the terms of reference and felt that they comprised
a useful statement of direction and did not
need any change, a view which was conveyed to
the Working Group of Statistical Experts at
its ninth session. Furthermore, the Commission
at its fiftieth session had also expressed satisfaction
with the proposed revised terms of reference
for the Committee. The secretariat has recently
reviewed the terms of reference and can see
no need at this stage to revise them either
on substantive or procedural grounds. Rather,
the secretariat would suggest that a period
is needed during which the activities of the
Committee can proceed, after which the validity
of the terms of reference as a guiding document
and supporting tool could be evaluated again
against the Committee's experience.
3. It is therefore suggested that, provided
the Committee on Statistics remains a component
of the Commission's subsidiary structure (see
section D. below), the Committee recommend to
the Commission that it adopt the text in annex
I as the Committee's terms of reference. It
may also wish to authorize the secretariat,
in consultation with the bureau of the Committee,
to make concomitant amendments to the terms
of reference occasioned by any changes to the
themes of the Commission, which are mentioned
in clause 6.
B. Bureau of the Committee
4. The Committee at its ninth
session recognized the need for continuity of
leadership and guidance between sessions of
the Committee and the desirability of promoting
a greater sense of involvement by the Committee
and its ownership of the programme of activities
being pursued by the secretariat. The Committee
therefore decided that, in order to ensure such
continuity and involvement, the office bearers
of the Committee should form a bureau whose
term of office would be extended to the end
of the tenth session of the Committee. The Committee
also agreed on provisional terms of reference
for the bureau, as follows:
- To assist the Committee
in overseeing the activities of the secretariat
during the inter-sessional period in implementing
the objectives and decisions of the Committee.
- To review presentations
from the secretariat of the decisions and
resolutions of the Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific and of the Statistical
Commission, and to highlight issues of particular
importance to the ESCAP region for the consideration
of the Committee together with appropriate
recommendations.
- To review the provisional
agenda for the meetings of the Committee as
prepared by the secretariat and provide guidance
to the secretariat regarding the scope of
the documentation for the meetings of the
Committee.
- To guide the secretariat
as necessary in the coordination of statistical
activities in the region through such means
as the integrated presentation of programmes
of work to the Committee.
- (5) To take up any
other matter as may be assigned by the Committee.
At its first meeting on 29 January 1996, the
bureau reviewed and agreed to these provisional
terms of reference. The Committee may now wish
to confirm the bureau's terms of reference.
[Footnote: [Footnote: [ An extract from the
report of the thirty-ninth plenary session of
the Conference of European Statisticians, dealing
with the role and functioning of the Bureau
of the Conference, will be available to the
Committee as a background document.
5. The Committee decided that the officials
elected to the bureau would represent their
respective national statistical organizations
and would not serve in their personal capacity.
While subregional representation in the bureau
was favoured in principle, a flexible approach
was recommended, keeping in view the effective
functioning of the Committee. A number of other
issues relating to the functioning of the bureau
were left for further discussion and decision
by the Committee.
1. Size of the bureau
6. With the present distribution of regional
members and associate members over five subregions,
subregional representation in the bureau would
imply a five-person bureau [Footnote: .] Or
conceivably six if non-regional members were
taken into account; however, all office-holders
to date have been from the region.(3) Apart
from the early years when there was apparently
some sharing of rapporteurial duties, the number
of Committee officers has remained static at
four (chairperson, two vice-chairpersons and
rapporteur) while membership in ESCAP has grown
from 24 in 1951 to 60 in 1996. Other subsidiary
bodies of the Commission have had 4 to 7 office-holders
in recent years. The Bureau of the Conference
of European Statisticians comprises six elected
country members (plus three to five persons
invited from leading international or regional
organizations) from 55 member countries. The
statistical conference of the Economic Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
has a bureau of 4 persons from 48 member countries.
Although there is no requirement for the bureau
to be of a fixed size, the ESCAP Committee on
Statistics will have to determine how many office-holders
there should be on the bureau, whose term of
office starts at the end of the tenth session.
2. Term of office of
the bureau
7. To meet fully the goal of continuity of
leadership, there is a case for suggesting that
the term of office of each bureau cover two
successive Committee sessions, i.e., four years.
Election to the bureau could perhaps be on a
rolling basis so that the entire bureau would
not retire at once. It may, however, be felt
that a four-year period is too long, in which
case election could be for two years with the
possibility of re-election for a further term.
The Committee will also have to decide on the
question of re-election in a general sense.
In the past, re-election to successive bureaux
(in either the same or a different position)
has been the exception rather than the rule.
The Committee may wish to note that in Europe,
where the Conference of European Statisticians
meets annually, the practice is that Bureau
members can be elected for up to four successive
two-year terms, i.e., eight years in all, after
which there must be a break in service. The
Chairman, however, can serve for only two successive
two-year terms.
3. Frequency of bureau
meetings
8. It is suggested that this should be a matter
for each bureau to decide, but the Committee
may wish to know the current practice. By the
time of the Committee's tenth session, the bureau
is expected to have met twice - once on 29 January
1996 prior to the ninth session of the Working
Group of Statistical Experts, and again on 22
November. The bureau has not yet had a 'stand-alone'
meeting [Footnote: . With its much heavier workload,
the Bureau of the Conference of European Statisticians
generally meets three times a year, once in
conjunction with the Conference and twice independently.](4)
The Committee may also wish to note that the
Working Group of Statistical Experts is not
a standing body but one that has to be specifically
convened by each session of the Committee.
4. Financial arrangements
for bureau meetings
9. Discussions on the financial aspects of
the functioning of the bureau and its predecessors
have a long history. Some 20 years ago, to try
to ensure some continuity of membership as well
as guarantee the attendance of a small group
of countries at the Working Group of Statistical
Experts, provision was made under the regular
budget for the airfare and daily subsistence
allowance of the persons (currently four) elected
as the officers of the Committee. These arrangements
have continued more or less unchanged up to
the present.
10. At the meetings of the bureau and the Working
Group of Statistical Experts in January 1996,
it was noted that more countries are today in
a position to finance their own representatives
to Working Group sessions; evidence for this
is shown by the increasing number of cases of
self-financed participation by countries at
the technical meetings organized by the secretariat.
Moreover, the view may be taken that countries
will be able to find the funds if they rate
the Working Group as a sufficiently important
meeting - especially since they have been elected
to its bureau. It may be noted that countries
elected to the Governing Board of the Statistical
Institute for Asia and the Pacific are expected
to finance the attendance of their representatives.(5)
A further point noted was that the secretariat
may not be able to continue indefinitely to
make budgetary provision for attendance of bureau
members at the Working Group, as financial constraints
on the United Nations are not expected to be
loosened. At the same time it was clear that
a large number of countries in the region, especially
the smaller ones and those far distant from
Bangkok, still experience difficulty in sending
their statistical staff to meetings without
financial support from an external source.
11. The Working Group felt that the current
arrangements should continue. It proposed, however,
that in a situation of financial constraint,
priority should be given to funding the participation
of bureau members from the Central Asian republics,
least developed and landlocked countries and
island developing countries. The Committee may
wish to endorse the Working Group's conclusions
on this point.
C. Other aspects of
the Committee's functioning
12. Following on from the discussions at the
United Nations Statistical Commission at its
twenty-seventh session, held in February-March
1993, which led to the Committee taking on its
role as the focus of regional statistical development,
there are a number of other aspects of the functioning
of the Committee which may be addressed.
1. Statistical standards
13. The Statistical Commission recommended
that, in acting as the focus of regional statistical
development, the regional conferences of chief
statisticians and the respective regional statistical
divisions "should be involved in developing,
revising, testing and implementing standards
and in monitoring their application, as well
as in coordinating technical assistance". [Footnote:
E/1993/26, para. 40 (c).](6) The special session
of the Statistical Commission, held in April
1994, went on to suggest that the regional commissions
should "work together with their member countries
in order to establish and monitor the stage
of development of the national statistical services,
especially in relation to the adoption of international
classifications and methodologies and the provision
of the corresponding information". [Footnote:
E/1994/29, para. 6 (a).](7) The recent enquiry
by each regional commission, including ESCAP,
on the status of national accounts in each country
in relation to the implementation of the 1993
System of National Accounts (SNA), has been
an example of this type of task.
14. Clause 4 of the terms of reference which
the Committee is proposing to the Commission
calls for greater attention to statistical methods
and standards, as the Committee's involvement
grows in their development, testing, implementation
and monitoring. At its ninth session, the Committee
was asked whether it would be able to deal with
this aspect of its work in plenary session or
through specialized technical working parties
(perhaps utilizing extrabudgetary funds); the
possibilities of extended Committee meetings,
parallel sessions and utilizing the Working
Group of Statistical Experts for the development
and tracking of statistical standards were also
mooted. The Committee may wish to again discuss
ways in which it might become more actively
involved in work on statistical standards.
2. Coordination arrangements
15. The Statistical Commission had also envisaged
a strong coordination role for the regional
conferences of statisticians, particularly with
regard to technical cooperation activities,
and this is reflected in clause 5 of the Committee's
proposed terms of reference. The Statistical
Commission had seen the regional statistical
conference as the "appropriate forum where member
States will exchange their experiences on statistical
activities and areas of cooperation, where all
agencies working in different fields will discuss
their technical assistance programmes, and where
the development and implementation of world-wide
statistical standards and methods, the development
of training strategies and the formulation and
implementation of technical assistance programmes
will be discussed". [Footnote: E/1994/29, para.
6 (c).](8) At its ninth session, the Committee
did discuss inter-agency coordination arrangements
but reached no conclusions other than that it
would not necessarily be appropriate to transplant
the arrangements in place in Africa and other
regions to the ESCAP context.
16. Since the Committee last met, the secretariat
has gained some experience with one coordination
tool, the experimental integrated presentation
of agency work programmes, but there are still
several problems in that regard. [Footnote:
See E/ESCAP/STAT.10/11/Add.1.](9) The Regional
Inter-agency Committee for Asia and the Pacific
(RICAP) and its subsidiary bodies have held
a number of meetings, but it has been observed
that those meetings may be of limited effectiveness
without member State participation; moreover,
in the field of statistics, coordinational issues
are handled by a number of global bodies, particularly
the Administrative Committee on Coordination's
Subcommittee on Statistical Activities, and
it is not at all certain that the issues at
the regional level would be sufficiently different
to warrant creating and servicing a new body.
The Committee may wish to decide what, if any,
further measures need to be taken at this time
to strengthen its coordination role.
3. Participation
17. The Committee on Statistics and the other
regional statistical conferences, taken together,
have universal membership and hence offer, in
principle, universal participation in the governance
of international statistical development. This
was recognized by the Statistical Commission,
which has only 24 member countries. However,
although the Committee has had a very strong
record of participation compared with other
ESCAP subsidiary bodies, the 34 members and
associate members that attended the Committee's
ninth session represented some 58 per cent of
the then membership (Turkey has since joined
the Commission). Non-attendees are generally
the smaller countries or disadvantaged economies
in transition, both of which have specific statistical
circumstances and needs. Non-participating countries
almost inevitably express regret at their inability
to attend, citing lack of funds as the primary
reason for their absence.
18. Another facet of participation is the
level of active contribution to the proceedings.
Although the Conference of European Statisticians
at its forty-fourth session, held in June 1996,
was attended by 82 per cent of its membership
of 55, only half the countries participating
actually intervened during the course of debate.
In this respect the Committee's practice of
hearing country statements and receiving country
papers, although somewhat time-consuming, does
foster more active participation in the proceedings
by those countries able to attend, as well as
create a permanent record of the progress of
statistical development in the region.
19. The Committee may like to consider whether
and how effective participation in its work
could be improved, including mechanisms that
might allow the views of non-participating countries
to be reflected in the Committee's deliberations.
D. Future conference
structure of the Commission
20. The Committee may recall that although
it is shortly to convene its tenth session,
technically it is a relatively new body created
by resolution 48/2 of the Commission in 1992.
That resolution called for a review of arrangements
no later than the fifty-third session of the
Commission, to be held in 1997. Extensive preparations
for this review are being made, both by member
States and the secretariat, and these are being
carried out against the prominent backdrop of
ongoing reform efforts within the United Nations
and continual pressure on the Organization's
finances.
21. Resolution 48/2 created three "thematic"
committees (on regional economic cooperation,
environment and sustainable development, and
poverty alleviation through economic growth
and social development), two other committees
on transport and communications and statistics,
and two special bodies to deal with the particular
development issues of the least developed and
Pacific island developing countries. The ESCAP
work programme has been arranged very similarly
into six subprogrammes, of which Statistics
is one. However, the secretariat is structured
into nine substantive divisions which do not,
on the whole (Statistics being the most marked
exception) correspond to the subsidiary bodies
and the subprogrammes. This incongruence of
structures has had few defenders during the
reform discussions, and it seems most likely
that there will be a much greater, and perhaps
even perfect, correspondence between subsidiary
bodies, subprogrammes and secretariat organization
in future.
22. Within the secretariat, the Executive
Secretary appointed a Working Group on ESCAP
Reform which has proposed six subprogramme areas,
with corresponding legislative bodies and secretariat
divisions, as follows:
- Development policy
management;
- International trade,
investment and industry;
- Social development;
- Environment and natural
resources management;
- Infrastructure development;
- Statistics.
The proposed description of the Statistics
subprogramme reads
"This subprogramme area would focus on the
strengthening of national statistical capabilities
for informed policy-making, planning, programme
implementation and monitoring and evaluation.
It would also promote active participation of
member and associate member countries of the
Commission in the development of international
standards as well as promote the use of suitable
methodology for data collection, processing
and analysis. It would promote the application
of information technology as well as information
resource management in the region, particularly
in the public sector.
"The subprogramme would widen the scope and
improve the accessibility and international
comparability of the statistical information
compiled and disseminated by the secretariat,
and provides support to the work undertaken
under the other programmes of ESCAP.
"The subprogramme will be implemented in close
cooperation with the United Nations Statistical
Office (UNSO) (sic), and other UN organizations
and specialized agencies in dealing with sector
specific statistics. This programme is supplemented
by training activities undertaken by the Statistical
Institute for Asia and the Pacific."
As the Committee will readily recognize, this
terminology accords very closely with the current
description of the Statistics subprogramme.
23. The opinions of all staff on the reform
process and specifically on the report of the
Working Group on ESCAP Reform were solicited
through an electronic bulletin board. The Executive
Secretary subsequently set up a Task Force to
review these inputs and also to monitor the
general directions of reform being adopted at
United Nations Headquarters in New York, in
order to substantiate the findings of the Working
Group on ESCAP Reform or to develop, if necessary,
alternative scenarios concerning the conference
structure and other aspects of reform. An oral
report on the Task Force's work will be given
to the Committee.
24. The secretariat also sought the views of member and associate member Governments,
by questionnaire, on a wide range of reform
topics, including the role the Commission should
be playing and the effectiveness of its subsidiary
bodies. Thirty-one responses were received.
In terms of effectiveness, the Committee on
Statistics fared well, as the following table
shows: [Footnote: Governments were asked to
rate the effectiveness of the various committees
on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not at all effective,
5 = extremely effective.](10)
Relative Effectiveness
of the Commission's subsidiary bodies and of
ACPR
|
Body
|
All respondents
|
Regional respondents
|
Regional Developing
Countries
|
| Advisory Committee of
Permanent Representatives
|
3.52
|
3.58
|
3.64
|
| Committee on Statistics
|
3.38
|
3.37
|
3.39
|
| Committee on Transport
and Communications
|
3.32
|
3.44
|
3.41
|
| Committee for Regional
Economic Cooperation
|
3.10
|
3.15
|
3.32
|
| Committee on Environment
and Sustainable Development
|
3.00
|
3.08
|
3.13
|
| Special Body on Pacific
Island Developing Countries
|
2.87
|
2.90
|
2.95
|
| Committee on Poverty Alleviation
through Economic Growth and Social Development
|
2.85
|
2.96
|
3.05
|
| Special Body on Least
Developed and Landlocked Developing Countries
|
2.85
|
2.88
|
2.95
|
Responding countries expressed
their preference for the frequency of the Committee's
meetings and elaborated their views on the agenda,
conduct of meetings and other aspects of the
Committee (annex II) and also provided feedback
on the areas of high or low priority covered
by the Statistics subprogramme (annex III).
25. The Advisory Committee
of Permanent Representatives and Other Representatives
Designated by Members of the Commission (ACPR)
has recently launched a parallel, independent
review of the conference structure along with
other aspects of reform, using in part the questionnaire
responses collected by the secretariat. Any
preliminary information on the results of this
ACPR review will be reported orally to the Committee.
26. As a final lead-up to
the fifty-third session of the Commission, to
be held in April 1997, and in order to obtain
further input into the reform debate, it is
planned to seek the views of a number of eminent
persons, through correspondence and possibly
also through a meeting in early 1997, and to
convene a preparatory meeting to review the
conference structure, to be held in Bangkok
from 24 to 28 February 1997.
27. It will be noted that
to date, although there have been a few individual
suggestions to the contrary both from within
the secretariat and outside, the Committee on
Statistics has been viewed as a valuable organ
of the Commission which should be an integral
part of any future conference structure. At
its ninth session in January 1996, the Working
Group of Statistical Experts agreed with the
bureau recommendation that, in any future revision
of the conference structure of ESCAP, the Committee
on Statistics should be retained. It noted that
the Committee had an excellent track record
in which attendance from the capitals had always
been high, and that any downgrading or merger
with other bodies would be detrimental to the
process of capability-building and statistical
coordination in the region. The Working Group
also felt that, if necessary, national statistical
offices should make representations with the
appropriate agencies in their respective Governments
to maintain the current position of the Committee
in the ESCAP conference structure. The Committee
may wish to endorse the views of its Working
Group. Given that the discussions on reform
of the conference structure and related issues
are ongoing, the Committee may also wish to
instruct its bureau and the secretariat to monitor
developments.
E. Action by the Committee
28. To recapitulate, the Committee
may wish to:
- Recommend that the Commission
adopt the Committee's terms of reference appearing
in annex I (paragraph 3);
- Authorize the secretariat,
in consultation with the bureau, to make any
necessary technical changes to the terms of
reference (paragraph 3);
- Confirm the bureau's provisional
terms of reference (paragraph 4);
- Decide on the size and
term of office of the bureau (paragraphs 6
and 7);
- Endorse the conclusions
of the Working Group of Statistical Experts
on the financial arrangements for bureau meetings
(paragraph 11);
- Discuss how its involvement
in statistical methods and standards can be
handled (paragraph 14);
- Decide what, if any, further
measures need to be taken to strengthen its
coordination role (paragraph 16);
- Consider whether and how
effective participation in its work can be
improved (paragraph 19);
- Endorse the view of the
Working Group of Statistical Experts that
the Committee on Statistics should be retained
in any future revision of the conference structure
of ESCAP, and that if necessary, national
statistical offices should make representations
with the appropriate agencies in their respective
Governments to that end (paragraph 27);
- Instruct its bureau and
the secretariat to monitor developments in
the ongoing reform process (paragraph 27).
Annex I
TERMS OF REFERENCE
OF THE COMMITTEE ON STATISTICS, AS RECOMMENDED
BY THE COMMITTEE AT ITS NINTH SESSION
The Committee on Statistics,
in acting as the focus of regional statistical
development, shall perform the following functions:
1. Review and analyse progress
in the development of statistics in the region.
2. Assist in the strengthening
of the statistical infrastructure in the countries
of the region, promote the improvement of the
quality of statistics, the international comparability
of data and the appropriate application of new
techniques, and arrange for the exchange of
information on and experiences in statistical
work and methods among the countries.
3. Promote the observation
of the fundamental principles of official statistics
adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission
at its special session in 1994.
4. Participate actively in
the initiation, development, revision, testing
and implementation of international statistical
standards, promote and monitor their application,
and promote their adaptation, as appropriate,
to the conditions and needs of the countries
of the region.
5. Play the focal role in
promoting close coordination of all aspects
of the statistical activities of specialized
agencies, relevant United Nations bodies and
other international organizations in regard
to their work in the Asian and Pacific region,
inter alia so as to achieve greater uniformity
in concepts and definitions, reduce to a minimum
the response burden on national statistical
offices, and maximize the effectiveness of technical
cooperation activities.
6. Promote the generation
and analysis of statistical data and encourage,
with due regard to relevant international work,
efforts to develop a set of standardized statistical
indicators for the region relevant to the themes
of the Commission, namely regional economic
cooperation, environment and sustainable development,
and poverty alleviation through economic growth
and social development.
7. Recommend programmes of
technical assistance, training, education and
research in the various fields of statistics
and their application.
8. Review and analyse progress
in the development of information technology
applications and information resource management
in the region, especially in the public sector,
and make recommendations on issues concerning
policies and strategies, as well as on programmes
of technical assistance, training and research
in this field.
9. Review and evaluate the
activities of the secretariat in the areas of
statistics and computerized information processing
and provide guidance on the work of the secretariat,
paying due regard to the recommendations of
the United Nations Statistical Commission and
other relevant bodies.
10. Make recommendations to
the Governing Board of the Statistical Institute
for Asia and the Pacific on the nature of and
priorities in statistical training for the countries
of the region.
11. Inform the United Nations
Statistical Commission and, where appropriate,
the statistical authorities of the specialized
agencies and other relevant bodies, of its work,
so that due attention may be given to the wider
aspects of the issues considered by the Committee.
12. Work closely with other
subsidiary organs of the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and coordinate
activities with them.
13. Carry out such other activities
as the Commission may direct from time to time.
The Committee shall meet once
every two years and report to the Commission.
Annex II
EXTRACT FROM THE COMPENDIUM
OF THE REPLIES FROM MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE ON THE REFORM OF ESCAP
Committee on Statistics
| |
Biennial |
Other (specify) |
|
Your preference for
the frequency of meetings
|
- American Samoa
- Australia
- Cambodia
- Fiji
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Sri Lanka
- Viet Nam
|
- Bangladesh
- China
- Democratic People's
- Rep. of Korea
- Guam
- Hong Kong
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran (Islamic
Republic of)
- Japan
- Lao People's
- Democratic Rep.
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- Niue
- Rep. of Korea
- Russian Federation
- Thailand
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uzbekistan
|
Elaboration on Government views
on the agenda, conduct of meetings and other
aspects of the Committee:
American Samoa
-
Australia
Having indicated a preference for annual meetings,
Australia acknowledges the additional costs
involved, and therefore accepts the current
practice of meeting biennially, with a meeting
of the Committee's working group in the intervening
years. The Committee has an important role to
play, particularly in setting the Statistics
Division's work programme, and in determining
priorities. It is important that the Committee
pursue and promote statistical coordination
in the region, and focus less on administrative
matters (which are a matter for the secretariat)
in order that it devote its limited resources
to addressing statistical matters in need of
attention within the region.
Bangladesh
For decision regarding "agenda"
items of the committee meeting priority statistical
activities being pursued by countries of the
region should be identified through interaction
with statistical agencies of the countries.
The common priority activities of the countries
should have particular focus in the meeting
structure; country specific priority programmes
of statistics should be considered in order
to formulate common strategies for improvements.
China
The Committee should strengthen
its role in developing and implementing international
statistics standards and coordinating technical
cooperation activities.
France See answer under question
number 5.
Guam
Through the Committee, the
most significant development in the area of
statistical information services was the progress
towards the operation of the ESCAP Statistical
Information System (ESIS), for data upload and
easy on-line access and exchange of data among
users. The Committee provided opportunities
for the region's leading statisticians to exchange
views on the latest developments in national
and international statistical activities.
Hong Kong
Note: Biennial meeting with
a Working Group of Statistical Experts' meeting
in the middle of the inter-meeting period.
The agenda normally covers
the most important statistical issues of the
day. Participants are usually top-level personnel
in the central statistical authorities and discussions
often result in recommendations for regional
action which also have an impact on the deliberations
of the United Nations Statistical Commission,
the body effectively setting world statistical
standards.
India
The Committee could also devote
attention to assisting the members and associate
members in deriving fuller benefit from the
advances in information technology for use in
developmental purposes.
Indonesia
The Committee has served effectively
as a regional clearing house in statistical
information. The Committee should continue meeting
biennially.
Islamic Republic of Iran
Everything about this Committee
is well-prepared and successfully conducted.
A weak point to mention is the late notice and
late delivery of documents.
Japan
To provide occasions for statistics-related
officials of the region to meet regularly and
to draw up concrete policies on important tasks
in the statistics field proves to be useful
and essential in strengthening regional cooperation
and improving international comparison in this
area. Statistics is an infrastructure common
to all thematic topics, and inevitable to every
aspect of policy-making. The Committee should
continue to be on its own for the time being.
With the improvement of the activities of the
Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific
and the Statistics Division, the Committee could
be dissolved in the future.
Lao People's Democratic
Republic
-
Malaysia
-
Myanmar
The agenda and conduct of
meetings are good and deliberations are very
effective. Implementation of work programme
is satisfactory.
Pakistan
The expenditure for at least
one participant should be met by ESCAP to the
Committee and its Steering Group meeting, upon
request by the member country, because owing
to budgetary constraints, it becomes difficult
for member Governments to attend such meetings
through experts. This will be extremely effective.
Philippines
Meetings of this Committee
should be limited to three days.
Russian Federation
We are satisfied with the
agenda and organization of work of the Committee
on Statistics.
Thailand
The agenda should include
an item on industrial statistical data and how
to make use of such data.
United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland
Under effectiveness - cannot
comment.
Under frequency - Interim
preference biennial, with proviso that future
role of the Committee be evaluated.
United States of America
We have not participated in
a meeting of this Committee since 1989, when
travel funds were reallocated to higher-priority
gatherings. We no longer follow in detail the
work programme in statistics as we do in other
organizations of greater relevance.
Annex III
EXTRACT FROM THE COMPENDIUM
OF THE REPLIES FROM MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE ON THE REFORM OF ESCAP
Subprogramme 5: Statistics
|
|
High priority areas
|
Low priority areas
|
Remarks
|
| Australia
| (i) The development and
implementation of international standards,
particularly:
- New System of National Accounts (SNA
93)
- New balance of payments standards
(BPM 5)
- Implications for statistics of the
outcome of the Social Summit
(ii) Technical assistance
| Government
computing
| This topic,
which is very important in its own right,
relates to the full range of govern-ment
activities, not just statistics. Australia
would not wish to see the essential work
of ESCAP on statistics diverted by considerations
of government computing.
|
| Bangladesh
| Implementation
and operation of SNA 1993, poverty monitoring
system, compilation and dissemination of
statistics for macroeconomic management
and monitoring informal sector activities
|
| All statistical
programmes are equally important; however
the areas mentioned above have relatively
higher priority.
|
| Cambodia
|
|
x
|
|
| China
| National
accounts
| Environmental
statistics and gender statistics
|
|
| Democratic
People's Rep. of Korea
|
-
|
x
|
|
| Fiji
|
All
|
None
|
|
| Guam
| Population
surveys and demographic data analysis
|
-
|
|
| Hong Kong
| Statistics
on income distribution. Timeliness and quality
of statistics
|
|
|
| India
|
-
|
-
|
|
| Indonesia
| Coordination
in implementing SNA is considered to be
a high priority sub-programme for Indonesia.
Therefore, the ESCAP secretariat should
be able to have a regular meeting on this
matter and publish its report. Besides SNA,
environmental statistics is also considered
as having a high priority to be developed
and implemented. In this regard, Indonesia
is of the view that the manual on environmental
statistics which is being prepared by the
ESCAP secretariat should be finalized and
disseminated to member countries at the
earliest possible
|
|
|
| Japan
| Strengthening
of statistical capacity of members/associate
members through training programme by SIAP,
implementation of international statistical
standards such as 1993 SNA
|
-
|
|
| Lao People's
Democratic Rep.
|
|
x
|
|
| Myanmar
| 1. Social
statistics (demography, health and related
statistics)
2. Economic statistics (National income
account income and expenditure surveys,
ICP, poverty)
|
None
|
|
| Nepal
|
|
x
|
|
| Netherlands
|
x
|
|
|
| New Zealand
| Development
of common statistical data in the region
|
-
|
|
| Niue
|
|
| It is an
important area but not a priority if funding
is a constraint
|
| Pakistan
| The technical
assistance should be doubled for developing
countries
|
|
|
| Rep. of Korea
| Information
technology for statistical purposes
|
|
|
| Russian Federation
| Establishment of regional
electronic database; cooperation with SIAP;
publication of periodic statistical handbooks
|
-
|
|
| Sri Lanka
| Statistics
on environmental issues; technical assistance
& training
|
-
|
|
| Thailand
| - Focus on
generating and maintaining an adequate database
- Promote information technology applications
|
|
|
| United Kingdom
| Comment pended
(see annex under United Kingdom)
|
|
|
| United States
| Implementing
United Nations international statistical
classifications, e.g. 1993 System of National
Accounts; technical assistance in statistics
|
-
|
|
| Viet
Nam
| No
response given
|
|
|
Note: No response
from the Philippines, and American Samoa.
- In this note all references
to "the Commission" refer to the Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
unless indicated otherwise.
- An extract from the
report of the thirty-ninth plenary session
of the Conference of European Statisticians,
dealing with the role and functioning of the
Bureau of the Conference, will be available
to the Committee as a background document.
- Or conceivably six
if non-regional members were taken into account;
however, all office-holders to date have been
from the region.
- With its much heavier
workload, the Bureau of the Conference of
European Statisticians generally meets three
times a year, once in conjunction with the
Conference and twice independently.
- It may be noted that
countries elected to the Governing Board of
the Statistical Institute for Asia and the
Pacific are expected to finance the attendance
of their representatives.
- E/1993/26, para. 40
(c).
- E/1994/29, para. 6
(a).
- E/1994/29, para. 6
(c).
- See E/ESCAP/STAT.10/11/Add.1.
- Governments were asked
to rate the effectiveness of the various committees
on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not at all
effective, 5 = extremely effective.
|
