The Busan Action Plan for Statistics: Challenges and Opportunities for the Pacific Community

1. The Busan Action Plan for Statistics: Challenges and Opportunities for the Pacific Community 4th Regional Conference of Heads of Statistics and Planning 22-26 July 2013 Samuel Blazyk / Gay Tejada PARIS21

2. OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION • What is PARIS21? • paris21 and the Pacific Community • The Busan Action Plan for Statistics • Challenges ahead • Opportunities for collaboration in the Pacific (2

3. PARIS21 Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century Vision promote the integration of statistics and reliable data in the decision-making process Objective support and engage developing countries in strengthening their National Statistical Systems (2

4. Who we work with What we do • Bring together development actors involved in statistics • Advocate for better use of statistics • Provide technical advice and support • Generate Knowledge: ADP/IHSN increases the use and value of survey data • Developing countries • Bilateral donor agencies • International organisations • Regional Bodies • Statisticians • Policy makers • Data analysts • Governments • Non-state actors • Foundations Where we work (3

5. History of PARIS21 cooperation in the Pacific • April 2005: PARIS21 collaboration in the Pacific began • An information session on NSDS was organised in the margins of the meeting in Nouméaon “Issues for Official Statistics for Small Countries (especially Island Nations)” • February 2009: In the margins of the UN Statistical Commission in New York, • Organized the “Meeting on Strategic Statistical Planning for Small Island Developing States” attended by representatives from Pacific and Caribbean islands • July 2010: In the margins of the SPC Regional Meeting of Heads of Statistics and Planning in Nouméa, • Co-organised a “PARIS21/SPC Pacific Regional Workshop on NSDS” (24

6. History of PARIS21 cooperation in the Pacific • October 2010-March 2012: Conducted series of country visits/mission • met with data producers, data users, and development partners and help facilitate the NSDS formulation and drafting of NSDS roadmaps • 2013: Support to countries in the NSDS preparation, statistical advocacy, and data archiving and survey documentation (ADP/IHSN) • Launched NSDS preparation in Tonga and Vanuatu and Solomon Islands and Cook Islands (forthcoming) • Advocacy materials for Pacific region (booklet and video) • Regional training workshop on NADA 4.0 (with participant from Pacific) • PARIS21 Board Membership: 2 representatives from the Pacific region • SPC • Data user community from PNG (24

7. THE BUSAN ACTION PLAN FOR STATISTICS (BAPS) What it is • Endorsed during the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan Korea in 2011 • Designed to update and build on the successes of the 2004 Marrakesh Action Plan for Statistics (MAPS) The objectives • Fully integrate statistics in decision making • Promote open access to statistics • Increase resources for statistical systems (4

8. Five actions to support the objectives • Strengthen and refocus national and regional strategies (NSDS/RSDS) • Implement standards for data preservation, documentation, and dissemination • Develop programs to increase knowledge and skills to use statistics effectively • Build and maintain instruments to monitor results of global summits and high level forums • Ensure financing for statistical information is robust Progress on BAPS to date • Survey conducted to identify implementation priorities and existing gaps • Monitoring framework/logframe on BAPS is being developed • PARIS21 mandated as the BAPS Secretariat (5

9. PARIS21 and BAPS BAPS BAPS Secretariat Strategy Access Monitoring Skills Advocacy Coordination + (5

10. Challenges AHEAD Statistics and the Post-2015 Development Agenda (7

11. Lessons learnt from MDG Monitoring… • 1) PROCESS • Statisticians were not involved in the process of defining development goals and setting targets • Capacity only an after thought • 2) TECHNICAL ISSUES – on numerical targets, inconsistencies,… • 3) MISALIGNMENT – global monitoring needs versus strengthening national capacities (9

12. Lessons learnt from MDG • Positive effects: • The demand for statistics has been stimulated. • Support for statistics has been strengthened. • The need for a National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) has been reinforced in all countries as a strategic response to weak statistical systems (9

13. Lessons learnt from MDG Monitoring… • 2) And some lessons: • The «top-down» approach: development objectives and indicators have not been sufficiently discussed with countries in general, particularly with statisticians. • Weak ownership of the MDGs by countries and no enough link to NSDS (9

14. …to the communique of the HLP • “WE NEED A DATA REVOLUTION… Stronger monitoring and evaluation at all levels, and in all processes of development will help guide decision making, update priorities and ensure accountability. This will require substantial investment in building capacity in advance of 2015. A regularly updated registry of commitments is one idea to ensure accountability and monitor delivery gaps. We must also take advantage of new technologies and access to open data for all people”. (10

15. Evidence-based policymaking Tracking Progress and evaluating aid effectiveness Increasing government accountability (21

16. More actors official Private non-official Public User Producer (22

17. What should we do? • Develop a vision for a global effort to strengthen statistical capacity as a parallel track to Post-2015 MDG setting. Weshould: • Engaging statisticians • Supporting national statistical capacity • Giving priority to statistics in development (28

18. Engaging statisticians • Statisticians should be involved in the preparation process of the post-2015 development agenda. This will lead to: • The forecast of measurable, realistic and appropriate goals in accordance with national development plans in developing countries. • The promotion of better governance, transparency and accountability of National Statistical Offices (NSOs). • A greater role for statisticians in the development of public policy (28

19. Supporting national statistical capacity • In the context of the BAPS: • Reinforce fund-raising and the implementation of National Strategies for the NSDS. • Facilitate the coordination of statistics development partners in line with country strategies. • Strengthen dialogues between data users and producers. Continuing demand from users would help increase the volume of data production and improve dissemination of high-quality data. • Promote free access to data produced in countries - open data policies. (28

20. Giving priority to statistics in development • It is still important to continue advocacy in order to make statistics a true development priority. The following steps are needed: • Emphasise national policies (PRSPs), MDGs and statistics strategies (NSDS). • Consolidate the relationship between statisticians and politicians. For this, PRSPs and national development plans should include statistics as a key element and include a chapter on strengthening the National Statistical System (NSS). (28

21. PARIS21 – Pacific: what have we achieved ? • Assisted 5 countries in producing their NSDS roadmaps: Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands • Assisted PNG in the development and dissemination of advocacy material on “Why Papua New Guinea Needs Good Statistics” • Support provided to NSOs in their participation/attendance in regional meetings and conferences • Organised training/workshops on microdata management: • Toolkit Training and DDI Production workshops in Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia • Development of regional NADA (33 surveys from 13 countries) • Documentation and dissemination of health studies in collaboration with Western Pacific Regional Office • Conducted pilot work on Hybrid Survey in Vanuatu (24

22. Opportunities for collaboration in the Pacific: PARIS21 future activities • Addressing the priorities of the TYPSS, specifically on: • NSDS support to countries (Recommendation #4) • Assist other Pacific countries in the review/assessment of their NSS, NSDS formulation and implementation (i.e., Cook Islands, Fiji, FS Micronesia, Nauru, Tokelau, Tuvalu and others if request) • Launch the revised NSDS guidelines towards improved design and implementation (through website and conduct of country workshops) • Support on advocacy of statistics (Recommendation # 2) • Facilitate user-producer dialogue and advocacy forum at the country level • Assist countries in launching training program for data users /stakeholders to promote appreciation and utilization of statistics • Development and dissemination of advocacy materials for countries and the larger Pacific region (booklet, video, etc.) (25

23. Opportunities for collaboration in the Pacific: PARIS21 future activities • ADP/IHSN – program to help improve survey documentation and increase the use and value of survey data (Recommendation #7) • Continued partnership with SPC in the implementation of the ADP in Pacific Island countries: • Continue work on Hybrid Survey in Vanuatu • Expand statistical capacity building in microdata management in other Pacific countries (25

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