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1. Opening of the session
Suitable arrangements will be made in due course.
The bureau elected at the tenth session of the
Committee on Statistics will preside in the
same capacity.p
2. Adoption of the agenda
The provisional agenda will be adopted with
whatever changes are deemed necessary.
3. Implementation of
the recommendations of the Committee at its
ninth and tenth sessions
The Committee will review the item on the basis
of a document (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/1)which
will provide a consolidated record of the six-monthly
progress reports prepared by the secretariat.
4. Report of the bureau
The bureau will give a summary report (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/2)
of its activities since the tenth session of
the Committee, supplemented by an oral report
by the chairman. p
5. Report of the Working
Group of Statistical Experts
The report of the Working Group of Statistical
Experts on its tenth session, held at Bangkok
in November 1997 (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/3),
will be considered by the Committee.
6. Review of statistical
activities in the region
The Committee will review the development activities
of the secretariat and the countries in the
field of statistics, as well as the work of
international agencies having significant statistical
activities in the region. The secretariat will
prepare a comprehensive paper (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/4,
PDF) on its activities
since the tenth session of the Committee on
Statistics, held at Bangkok in November 1996.
It will highlight the major activities of the
secretariat in data collection and dissemination,
as well as those relating to the ESCAP Statistical
Information System (ESIS). The statistical development
activities, including technical meetings, group
training and advisory services as well as those
concerning public sector computerization will
be discussed.
All members and associate members of ESCAP
will be expected to submit country papers, covering
major innovations achieved in the field of statistics,
progress in monitoring achievements on key social
and economic issues, and the problems and constraints
faced. At least 80 copies for distribution as
conference room papers should be provided in
advance by country delegations. The specialized
agencies and other international organizations
will also be invited to submit concise conference
room papers on their statistics-related activities
for the Committee's information. A paper by
the Pacific Community (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/5)
will highlight the recommendations made at the
Eleventh Regional Meeting of Heads of Statistics
and issues relevant to statistical development
in the Pacific subregion.
7. Issues relating to
the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific,
including the reports of the Governing Board
The Committee will discuss issues relating
to statistical capability-building through training
of personnel, and the progress achieved in charting
a new direction for the Institute. The report
of the third session of the Governing Board
(E/ESCAP/STAT.11/6)
held at Tokyo in October 1997 will be available.
The Director of SIAP will present a report (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/7)
on the activities of the Institute, and also
make an oral report on the outcome of the fourth
session of the Governing Board, held at Bangkok
in November 1998.p
8. Matters arising from
and inputs to sessions of the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the Statistical
Commission and major global and regional meetings
The Committee will discuss the item on the
basis of a note by the secretariat (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/8)
which will touch on the major outcomes of the
twenty-ninth session of the United Nations Statistical
Commission and its Working Group on International
Statistical Programmes and Coordination, and
cover significant matters arising from the annual
sessions of the Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific.p
Two topics are expected to receive particular
attention. The Statistical Commission Working
Group has specifically requested that a draft
proposal on guiding principles for good practices
in technical cooperation in statistics be discussed
at the regional level; the summary report of
a workshop on the topic convened under the auspices
of the Statistical Commission will be before
the Committee under the cover of a brief introductory
note by the secretariat (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/9).
The second topic to be focused on concerns best
practices for official statistics, on which
a group of countries (the "Prague Group") had
met in March 1998, again under the auspices
of the Statistical Commission. The Prague Group
had decided that a desirable end-product would
be a collection of case studies on best practices
which should cover statistical offices operating
in different regional environments. The Committee
will discuss the issue on the basis of an invited
paper (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/10).
The Committee will also have available as a
background document for the item a report on
the activities of the Expert Group on Informal
Sector Statistics (the Delhi Group).
9. Statistical development
challenges at the turn of the century: effects
of the financial crisis on statistical services
The continuing financial crisis in several
East and South-East Asian countries is affecting
both the interest in many types of statistics
and the ability of national statistical systems
to provide data in a situation of severe budget
stringency. These demand and supply factors
will be reflected in an invited paper (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/11)
for the Committee's consideration.
10. pInformation resources
and technology
- Information resource management:
successes and challenges
Issues relating to the management of statistical
information as a national resource will be
discussed by the Committee on the basis of
an invited paper (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/12).
- Information technology
applications in the national statistical service
and in the public sector
The Committee will discuss information technology
applications in national statisticalservices
on the basis of a note by the secretariat (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/13)
and a document (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/13/Add.1)
which will inter alia report on the
progress of the ESCAP Working Party on the Application
of New Technology to Population Data and present
the results of the survey of information technology
applications conducted under that project. An
additional secretariat paper (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/14)
will provide the basis for discussion of information
technology applications in the public sector,
with a primary focus on the year 2000 (Y2K)
problem in computing systems and embedded chips.
11. Programmes of work in statistics, 1998-1999
and 2000-2001, including the development of
an integrated presentation of work programmes
A secretariat paper (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/15)
will provide information on changes in the programme
of work in statistics for the biennium 1998-1999,
and on the draft work programme for the biennium
2000-2001, the framework of which was discussed
by the Working Group of Statistical Experts
at its tenth session. The comments of the Committee
and its views on priorities will be sought.
At its tenth session, the Committee had agreed
that the integrated presentation of the work
programme of international agencies active in
the field of statistics was useful and enhanced
the coordination of those activities. Another
secretariat paper (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/16)
will provide the Committee with the result of
the secretariat's efforts to prepare an integrated
presentation of programmes in statistics in
the region for the biennium 1998-1999. The document
will be based on the input received from agencies.
12. Other matters
The Committee will consider other matters of
interest not covered elsewhere in thisagenda,
including the draft provisional agenda of the
twelfth session of the Committee (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/17).
It will also be invited to assess the need for
an additional meeting of the Working Group of
Statistical Experts and to assign topics to
be considered by it, if appropriate.
13. Election of the
bureau
On the basis of consultations carried out during
the session, the Committee will elect three
new bureau members for a four-year term, to
join those existing members whose term of office
expires in 2000. A short secretariat note (E/ESCAP/STAT.11/18)
will, inter alia, provide information
on the composition of past bureaux of the Committee.
14. Adoption of the
report
The Committee will adopt the report for submission
to the Commission at its fifty-fifth session.
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