Description: UNSD, together with the SADC Secretariat and the Collaborative on Administrative Data (CAD), carried out a five-day regional workshop on the use of administrative data sources for migration statistics from 17-21 March 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The workshop was also supported by the participation of the International Organization for Migation (IOM) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Description: Body The need for statistics on gender-in-trade is becoming pressing as governments strive to develop gender-responsive trade policies. The Regional Workshop will focus on the importance of collecting and utilising gender-in-trade statistics to support better policymaking across the African continent. In addition, the Regional Workshop also discusses the findings obtained from six pilot countries – Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Senegal, Cameroon, and Zimbabwe – that participated in undertaking exercises in micro-linking trade and non-trade data within their countries and identify ways forward for improved data collection in gender-in-trade statistics. The objectives of this regional workshop is to: * Encourage knowledge sharing amongst statistics officers on best methods and practices to support the collation of data and statistics on gender and trade and to understand how to undertake micro-linking of non-trade and trade data. * Drawing on the findings from the African pilot case studies, discuss the long-term goal of collecting sex-disaggregated trade data and identify gaps and proposed solutions for ensuring that national statistics collection includes gender-responsive indicators across the continent. * Improve understanding of regularising and implementing long-term data collection on informal cross-border trade (ICBT) to inform evidence-based policymaking that meet the needs of informal and small-scale traders. This workshop is organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), with contributions from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Financial support for this project was provided by United Nations Development Account.
Joint UNSD and SACU Training Workshop on International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS), Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX), and Data Tools
Description: UNSD and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) jointly organized a Workshop on International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS), Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX), Structured Query Language (SQL), and Trade Data Tools. The Workshop involved 31 participants from SACU Member States’ institutions (customs offices, national statistical offices, central banks, and Ministries of Finance), 13participants from international organizations(UNSD, UNCTAD, SACU, COMESA and Office of the Resident Coordinator, United Nations -South Africa) of which 6 participated virtually. Participants shared best practices regarding the implementation of the International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions 2010 (IMTS 2010), especially for scope and coverage, issues of bilateral asymmetries, quality and data comparability, data dissemination, analyses and uses. The meeting also discussed emerging issues in merchandise trade statistics, including Digital trade, Big data, Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (TEC), and the revision of the international standards for trade statistics. Furthermore, the participants were introduced to the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX), Structured Query Language (SQL), and the new UN Trade Data Tool (TDT). Participants acquired new knowledge and information that will be applied to improve their work and programs in international trade statistics. Furthermore, the new perspectives and information shared in this Workshop will be further reflected upon in the ongoing processes for revising the international standards for trade statistics.
