| Working Group of Statistical
Experts, 11th Session |
| Bangkok, 23-26 November
1999 |
|
|
STAT/WGSE.11/L.2
22 November 1999
ENGLISH ONLY
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND
THE PACIFIC
Working Group of Statistical Experts
Eleventh session
23-26 November 1999
Bangkok
|
| Annotated Provisional
Agenda |
|
| 1. Opening of the session |
| The session will be inaugurated
by the Executive Secretary of ESCAP. The Bureau
of the eleventh session of the Committee on Statistics
will preside in the same capacity. |
|
| 2. Adoption of the agenda |
| The provisional agenda (STAT/WGSE.11/L.1)
will be adopted with whatever changes are deemed
necessary. |
|
| 3. Overview of significant
global and regional issues in official statistics |
| Secretariat papers STAT/WGSE.11/1
and 1/Add.1 aim to provide the Working Group with
a review of statistical developments in a range
of fields concerning official statistics. They
draw on discussions at recent sessions of bodies
such as the United Nations Statistical Commission,
the ESCAP Commission and the ACC Subcommittee
on Statistical Activities, and have a focus on
topics not covered under other agenda items. |
|
| 4. Census 2000 and its
implementation in Asia and the Pacific |
| The 2000 round of population
and housing censuses is significant in a number
of respects. Secretariat document STAT/WGSE.11/2
provides information on the dates of the 2000
round censuses as well as a concise overview of
some of the major developments and issues surrounding
census-taking in the region today, for discussion
and comment by the Working Group. A paper contributed
by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics, STAT/WGSE.11/3,
describes the outcomes of the Regional Seminar
on Strategies for the 2000 Round of Censuses,
organized for the Pacific island countries in
December 1997. Document STAT/WGSE.11/4, prepared
by the Singapore Department of Statistics, describes
Singapore's register-based approach to its Census
2000 and the pioneering tri-modal data collection
strategy adopted for the 20 per cent sample enumeration. |
|
| 5. Application of new technology
to population data |
| Since 1997 the secretariat has
been implementing a UNFPA-funded project on the
application of new technology in population data
collection, processing, dissemination and presentation.
A Working Party consisting of experts from nine
countries/areas was set up to steer the project
activities. The Committee on Statistics, at its
eleventh session, asked the Working Group of Statistical
Experts to review the outcome and recommendations
of the Working Party, which are contained in document
STAT/WGSE.11/5 along with the recommendations
of a workshop held under the project in October
1999. The Working Group may like to focus its
deliberations on continuing the modality of technical
cooperation established by the project. |
|
| 6. Poverty statistics |
| The issue of poverty statistics
received considerable attention from the eleventh
session of the Committee on Statistics, which
asked the Working Group of Statistical Experts
to review the report of the seminar of poverty
statistics which was subsequently convened in
June 1999. The report is contained in document
STAT/WGSE.11/6 and contains many recommendations
for consideration by the Working Group. The particular
circumstances of poverty measurement in transition
economies are treated in a paper contributed by
the National Statistical Office of Mongolia (STAT/WGSE.11/7).
A trio of papers from the Asian Development Bank
stem from the recent adoption by the ADB of poverty
reduction as the Bank's overarching goal. The
current data situation and measurement issues
in relation to poverty incidence are discussed
in document STAT/WGSE.11/8. The poverty reduction
strategy itself is described in paper STAT/WGSE.11/9,
and how it is expected to manifest itself in terms
of a programme to improve statistics on poverty
is indicated in document STAT/WGSE.11/8/Add.1.
The Working Group is invited in particular to
consider how ESCAP and ADB can best coordinate
their efforts on the statistical front of the
battle against poverty. |
|
| 7. Gender statistics |
| In pursuance of the Platform
for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference
on Women in 1995, the secretariat has started
activities under a UNDP-funded project which aim
at refining methodologies for measuring and valuing
unpaid work. The Working Group is invited to take
note of document STAT/WGSE.11/10, which describes
the secretariat's ongoing and future work in this
field, including a seminar on time-use surveys
to be held shortly in Ahmedabad. The experience
of a developed country statistical office with
various gender statistics issues including time-use
surveys is outlined in paper STAT/WGSE.11/11,
which has been contributed by the Australian Bureau
of Statistics. In India, dissatisfaction with
the Gender Development Index published by UNDP
in 1995 has led to work designed to find more
suitable indicators of gender discrimination.
These efforts are documented in paper STAT/WGSE.11/12,
prepared by the Department of Statistics and Programme
Implementation of India. |
|
| 8. Development indicators |
| The series of global conferences
in the 1990s generated a surge in demand for statistics
and indicators to measure progress towards the
goals that countries had adopted. While this has
created a positive environment for national statistical
capacity-building, the proliferation of indicators,
the lack of coordination in their definition and
collection, and the response burden on countries
have been factors which the Economic and Social
Council has drawn attention to. On the basis of
secretariat note STAT/WGSE.11/13, the Working
Group is invited to consider how the region may
be able to support implementation of the relevant
Council resolution 1999/55 and generally advance
the harmonization and rationalization of development
indicators. In paper STAT/WGSE.11/14, the Australian
Bureau of Statistics examines development indicators
in the context of broad-based measures of national
progress. Accepting that GDP alone has limitations
as a yardstick of progress, the document discusses
recent thinking in drawing together a number of
measures across both economic and social statistics. |
|
| 9. International standard
classifications: developments and status of implementation |
| The field of statistical classifications
has been attracting renewed interest in recent
years, and the first workshop on this topic in
the region, organized by the United Nations Statistics
Division in collaboration with the Australian
Bureau of Statistics and ESCAP, was held recently
in Canberra. The Working Group is invited to study
the recommendations and conclusions of that workshop
on the basis of its report (STAT/WGSE.11/15) and
a short secretariat note (STAT/WGSE.11/15/Add.1)
which inter alia requests the Working Group's
guidance on further work by the secretariat in
this field. |
|
| 10. The Year 2000 problem:
preparedness of national statistical offices |
| Following a summary of the secretariat's
activities in creating awareness about the Y2K
problem, paper STAT/WGSE.11/16 describes the difficulties
encountered in implementing ESCAP Commission resolution
55/3, "Strengthening the cooperation and support
of nations in the Asian and Pacific region in
addressing the year 2000 problem". It also touches
on the Y2K preparedness of the United Nations,
including ESCAP. The Working Group may wish to
focus its discussions on the preparedness status
and contingency plans in the region's statistical
offices. |
|
| 11. Report of the Bureau,
including review of programme matters and provisional
agenda for the twelfth session of the Committee
on Statistics |
| The Bureau will give a summary
report of its activities, including the meeting
held since the last session of the Committee.
The report will be made orally and, if circumstances
permit, in written form (STAT/WGSE.11/17). The
report is expected to include the results of the
Bureau's review of programme matters, including
the programme of work in statistics 2000-2001
(secretariat note STAT/WGSE.11/18 and 18/Add.1)
in which some prioritization of topics appears
to be needed. The Working Group will be asked
to provide advice to the ESCAP Commission on the
draft medium-term plan in statistics for the period
2002-2005 (secretariat note STAT/WGSE.11/19) which
the Bureau will also have reviewed. One important
issue for consideration will be the future treatment
of public-sector computerization. Finally, the
Bureau will have examined for the Working Group's
review the tentative provisional agenda and other
arrangements for the twelfth session of the Committee
on Statistics (secretariat note STAT/WGSE.11/20). |
|
| 12. Other matters |
| The Working Group will consider
other matters of interest, if any, not covered
elsewhere in this agenda. |
|
| 13. Adoption of the report |
| The Working Group will adopt
its report on the basis of a draft cleared by
the Rapporteur. |
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