Workshop on Statistical Organization and Management for SADC Member States – UNSD

1. Workshop on Statistical Organization and Management for SADC Member States – UNSD Group 1 Discussions Legislation Leadership Planning Luanda, 03 December 2006

2. Legislation • Statistical Policy • Regional Level • SADC countries should formulate statistical policy in order to guide statistical operations of member states • SADC countries should develop appropriate rules and regulation, in line with UN recommendations, to govern the Protocol on statistics • National Level • Member states should update their statistical legislation in line with SADC policy as well as the Protocol on statistics .

3. B. Statistical Framework • SADC countries should set up statistical frameworks to cover the entire statistical system • The frameworks should specify the modus operandi for the coordination of the players in the system • SADC secretariat should strengthen its statistical operations by filling up all vacant positions

4. Leadership • Technical Level • The head of the Statistical Office should be appointed on professional merits • Personal Level • Consideration for selection should take into account the culture and environment of the statistical system of the country • The leader should be able to build team spirit • The leader should mentor others to take up leadership roles in the institution

5. Planning • Plans should be medium to long term • Countries should adopt National Statistical development plans (NSDS) • The NSDS should be flexible • The NSDS’s should be sustainable

6. Workshop on Statistical Organization and Management for SADC Member States – UNSD Group 2 Discussions Legislation Leadership Planning Luanda, 03 December 2006

7. Leadership

8. Training Problems • There is no structured training programme; • We have problems of performing at a leadership level Solutions • We need to have co-ordinated training programme on leadership. • We need to have a co-ordinated cadreship development programme, for next levels of management. • We also need to differentiate between Leadership training and Management training. • Examples: Strategic management, Risk management, Communication, etc.

9. Taking risks Problems • Limitations and constraints: financial, decision-making. • Personality issues also play a role in how a leader can take risks. Solutions • Environment should allow the person to exercise a high level of independence, professionally and in making decisions. • The powers of the leaders should be adequately legislated. • Executive coaching (formal and informal) and peer group support, such as SADC Statistics Committee. • Study tours, budget available in the Development Account.

10. Capacity Problems • When a leader is not able to deliver the necessary figures due to capacity (e.g. expertise, skills, financial) Solutions • We need high profile professional authority; our business requires high level technical / intellectual competence: especially that we are faced with emerging agencies that are in the business of statistical production. • Leaders of NSOs should assert their authority internally so that they can get their teams to deliver. • Study tours, budget available in the Development Account.

11. Legislation

12. Position of Chief Statistician Problems • The level of appointment of the Chief Statistician within member states can also pose a problem on how the NSO and the entire national statistics system are positioned. Solutions • We need minimum recommended standards for the UN Handbook on Official Statistics on the level of the Chief Statistician. • NSOs should be assisted (e.g. through the SADC protocol) to revise their legislation and use this to position the level of the Chief Statistician: a framework for the SADC Statistics Protocol has already agreed upon. • We need proper co-ordination of regional and world intervention.

13. Stats programmes & resourcing the agency Problems • Governments sometimes do not support the work programme of the NSOs. Solutions • We need clear legislation on statistical programmes and how such programmes are approved as well as the necessary financial support. • We need to make our governments understand that the responsibility for funding the NSOs lies with them.

14. Intellectual/ technical competence Problems • We have problems in advancing the technical competence regarding the use of legislation, sometimes to the detriment of intellectual / technical excellence, e.g. the use of confidentiality. Solutions • We need to empower our staff to deal with data: unonymised micro-data issues. • We need an Ethics Committee to implement and monitor aspects of the statistics legislation that deal with confidentiality. • SDX and DevInfo initiatives.

15. Planning

16. Prioritisation Problems • Donors sometimes arrive with programmes they need to implement and the need data urgently, and therefore want NSOs to prioritise their data collection programmes, sometimes with a signed government agreement. • Staff members are tempted to participate in donor sponsored projects for financial gain. Solutions • We need comprehensive statistical master plans (long-term), strategic plan (medium-term) as well as business plans (implementation) with the inherent resource (financial, human, time) requirements. • We need procedures on acting allowances fro staff members seconded to donor sponsored projects.