Twenty-ninth session
11-14 February 1997
Item 13 of the provisional agenda*
The Secretary-General is pleased to transmit to the Statistical Commission a report on the implementation of the Review Group proposals on strengthening international statistical cooperation, which is contained in annex I. The report is transmitted to the Commission in accordance with a request by the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination at its eighteenth session (E/CN.3/1997/19, para. 49 (c)).
1. At the eighteenth session of the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination (New York, 16 to 18 April 1996), a small group (comprising Australia, the Netherlands, Brazil, the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)) was requested to review the implementation of the proposals contained in the report by the Review Group on strengthening international statistical cooperation (E/CN.3/AC.1/1992/R.2), known as the Begeer report. The present report, which was prepared by Australia after consultation with the other members of the group, is the outcome.
2. The Begeer report was initially discussed by the Working Group at its fifteenth session (New York, 29 June to 1 July 1992). The Working Group, which agreed with the report's findings, made a number of recommendations to the Statistical Commission and reached a number of decisions on matters arising from the report. At the twenty-seventh session of the Statistical Commission (New York, 22 February to 3 March 1993), the views of the Working Group and the findings of the Begeer report were discussed. The Commission endorsed the outcome of the Working Group discussion, with a few minor changes.a The recommendations of the Begeer report, as contained in its section IV, paragraphs 165-189, are summarized in annex II below, together with the aims of each recommendation as explained in the report, and the results of efforts to implement them.
3. The Begeer report identified the role of the global statistical system as twofold: first, to serve and support the activities of international institutions; second, to provide the world at large with statistical information for discussion, assessment and analysis at the world and regional levels. The report recognized the complexity of the international statistical system and acknowledged that the necessary coordinating bodies are in place but recommended that existing machinery be made more effective for the benefit of the system as a whole.
4. The Begeer report recognized that there are many key players in the international statistical system, including a number of specialized bodies within the United Nations system, the Statistics Divisions of the United Nations Secretariat and the regional commissions, and two important regional institutions that are not part of the United Nations system: the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Community (EC). Since the international statistical system has its foundations in the statistical systems of member States, the national statistical agencies are themselves key stakeholders, as are users of statistics.
5. The Begeer report assumed that the existing international statistical system, which is decentralized in both the subject and regional dimensions, would continue unchanged, an assumption that is critical to its recommendations. To function well the report recommended that the system needs, first, coordination in order to achieve and maintain coherence, credibility and usefulness, and to avoid the duplication of work and waste of resources; and second, the concrete involvement of member States.
6. As indicated in annex II, the Statistical Commission has accepted most of the Review Group's recommendations. However, as also indicated in annex II, implementation of the recommendations has been uneven, particularly for some of the significant and important ones. The Commission may wish to consider whether any of the recommendations need to be pursued further.
7. As to the recommendations on the organization of coordination, which were accorded the highest priority in the report, some significant progress has been made. The ACC Subcommittee on Statistical Activities seems to be more focused on its role as a key coordinating body and is performing effectively, although the task forces set up under its auspices - with the notable exception of the Task Force on International Trade Statistics - have not been very active. In addition, under the auspices of the Statistical Commission a number of working groups on critical problems have been established in which, following the Voorburg Group model, countries are the leaders. The Expert Group on Critical Problems in Economic Statistics has identified the remaining gaps in the international work programme, as a result of which additional task forces have been established. It would be useful to extend that type of analysis to social statistics, and to ensure that similar exercises are undertaken every four or five years.
8. As to the involvement of member States in the international statistical system, a key issue, the Begeer report suggested that it should be possible for all member States to participate in the development of the global statistical system. In view of the geographically decentralized nature of the international statistical system, the report considered that the best approach was to strengthen and more clearly focus the work of the regional statistics divisions and conferences of chief statisticians, in which all countries can participate and exchange their experience. The results of the work of the regional statistics divisions and conferences of chief statisticians should be fed into the Statistical Commission, since in the opinion of the Review Group the Commission itself is not an appropriate forum for carrying out such work because its members do not represent their individual backgrounds but rather the world statistical system. Little progress has been made in implementing those important recommendations, although it is accepted that the Conference of European Statisticians contributes significantly to the Commission's discussions.
9. As to the decentralized nature of the international statistical system in terms of subject, member States should be able to take a holistic view across all subject areas of the international statistical system, which at the moment is not possible because there are no mechanisms or processes in place for doing so; the Commission itself does not have a broad enough reach and the individual components of the international statistical system are quite heterogeneous.
10. To amplify that point, three quite different examples are worth considering. First, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently promulgated a number of standards for the dissemination of statistics. Although those standards were discussed with some statistical bodies, they were mainly negotiated through countries' central banks and finance departments since those are the country agencies that are most directly involved with IMF activities - a proper and appropriate way of doing things from the IMF point of view. However, from the point of view of the international statistical system it seems peculiar to say the least that the government statisticians of the world, as a group, did not have a direct input into the process, nor was it perceived by IMF that such an input would be appropriate. The Statistical Commission may wish to comment on whether or not that is an appropriate way of developing international statistical policy, particularly when such policy has implications far beyond the area that is sponsoring it. The question is especially relevant since the International Labour Office is on the point of developing standards for the release of labour statistics.
11. Second, standards are currently being developed on education statistics that will be considered and ratified under the banner of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). What role, in a collective sense, do government statisticians have in that process? Again, where does the Statistical Commission fit in, if at all? In asking those generic questions, it is appreciated that the Conference of European Statisticians does work closely with UNESCO.
12. Third, what is happening internationally in the important fields of crime and drug abuse statistics? Are government statisticians or the Statistical Commission involved? Much thinking needs to be done by member States about the international coordination that is needed across the various subject fields, and what they need to do to achieve it. To date, very little progress, if any, has been made on that front.
13. There is still a very strong requirement and challenge for the international statistical system to be managed in a way that allows and is seen to allow all stakeholders, particularly member States, to contribute, and that ensures that the statistical issues under consideration are relevant across the varying requirements of the member States. In addition, the view has been expressed that a small number of countries are dominating international statistical forums; whether or not that view is justified, it must be accepted that it exists. In conclusion, it remains the responsibility of the Statistical Commission to plan and implement action to further improve the organization or coordination as envisaged in the Begeer report.
a See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1993, Supplement No. 6 (E/1993/26).
1 Report of the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination on its fifteenth session (E/CN.3/1993/21).
2 Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1993, Supplement No. 6 (E/1993/26).