African Thematic Conference
Managing a statistical organization in times of change
- Pretoria, South Africa
- 7 - 9 October 2019
The first Thematic Conference in Africa (7-9 October, Pretoria, South Africa) is part of a series of regional conferences to understand and prioritise the recent institutional, organizational and technical developments for the production of official statistics and indicators for the monitoring of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and related regional and national development plans.
The regional approach to these conferences will put focus on practices and challenges common among members of each region. In particular, it will allow the organizers to collect additional information and examples to contribute to the updated Handbook of Statistical Organization, whose purpose is to support the needs of senior managers to adapt and develop their statistical organisations and systems as stressed in the Cape Town Global Action Plan (CTGAP) for Sustainable Development and as described in the final report of the series of conferences on a Transformative Agenda for Official Statistics.
The first Thematic Conference in Africa will be organised around 4 main sessions covering the 6 strategic areas of the CTGAP and a subset of the 14 substantive chapters of the Handbook as identified by the organizing committee, represented by Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and UN-ECA and UNSD, as highly relevant for Africa. The 4 main sessions are as follows:
Session 1: Strengthening the institutional and organisational frameworks of national statistical systems
Session 2: Securing quality of statistical information and improving data coherence through statistical analysis and analytical frameworks
Session 3: Supporting the transformation of statistical production processes from the data collection to dissemination in the context of the digital and technological revolution
Session 4: Mobilizing and securing adequate resources and infrastructure, and promoting regional and global cooperation for the development of national statistical capacity
Two breakout sessions will be organised to follow session 2 and session 4 and the outcome of these breakout sessions will contribute to an extended knowledge base related to the Handbook.
Monday, 7 October
08:30 - 09:00
Registration
09:00 - 10:00
Welcome and opening
- Mr. Risenga Maluleke (Statistician General, Statistics South Africa)(10')
- UNECA, Mr. Oumar Sarr / AfDB, Mr. Rees Mpofu (15')
- UN Statistics Division - Mr. Gabriel Gamez (15')
Including introduction to the work on the 4th edition of the Handbook on Statistical Organisation and priority themes for the conference
General Discussion (20')
10:00 - 10:30
Group photo
Tea/Coffee Break
10:30 - 12:30
Session 1: Strengthening the institutional and organisational frameworks of national statistical systems
Chair: Ms. Laura Ahtime (Chief Executive Officer, National Bureau of Statistics, Seychelles)Presentations:
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UN Statistics Division - Mr. Gabriel Gamez (20')
Sound Institutional and Organizational Frameworks for Official Statistics -
UN Economic Commission for Africa - Mr. Oumar Sarr (20')
Regional initiatives for strengthening African Statistical Systems -
Botswana - Dr. Burton S. Mguni (Statistician General, Statistics Botswana) (20')
Development and Coordination of the National Statistical System: Botswana Case -
Ghana - Ms. Araba Forson (Acting Deputy Government Statistician, Ghana Statistical Service) and Ms. Gloria Akoto-Bamfo (Principal Statistician, GSS) (20')
Responding to the Data Revolution: the Case of Ghana Statistical Service -
Malawi - Mr. Hector Kankuwe (Assistant Commissioner of Statistics, National Statistical Office) (20')
Strengthening the institutional and organisational frameworks of national statistical systems
General Discussion (20')
12:30 - 13:30
LUNCH BREAK
13:30 - 15:30
Session 2: Securing quality of statistical information and improving data coherence through statistical analysis and analytical frameworks
Chair: Ms. Nthabise Makhatha (Deputy Director General, Statistics South Africa)Presentations:
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UN Statistics Division - Mr. Trevor Fletcher (20')
User needs, quality management and analytical requirements -
Southern Africa Development Community - Ms. Zarafenosoa Ruth (20')
Regional initiative: SADC Protocol on Statistics -
Angola - Dr. Camilo Ceita (General Director, National Statistics Institute) (20')
Statistics: Problem or Solution for Angolan Users? -
Egypt - Mr. Tarek Saleh (Head of CAPMAS Regional Offices Sector) (20')
Experience in Census 2017 (a transformation from Paper based to E-census) -
Nigeria - Mr. Emuesiri Ojo (Technical adviser to the Statistician General, National Bureau of Statistics) (20')
Enhancing the quality of statistical output: The case of Nigeria Living Standards Survey (NLSS)
General Discussion (20')
15:30 - 16:00
TEA/COFFEE BREAK
16:00 - 17:15
Tuesday, 8 October
09:00 - 10:30
Breakout 1: Report in plenary and general discussion (continued)
Facilitator: UN Statistics Division - Mr. Gabriel GamezReport back on outcome of breakout session (10' each group) Reporters for General Discussion:
General Discussion
10:30 - 11:00
TEA/COFFEE BREAK
11:00 - 13:00
Session 3: Supporting the transformation of statistical production processes from the data collection to dissemination in the context of the digital and technological revolution
Chair: Mr. Ivan Murenzi (Deputy Director General, National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda)Presentations:
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UN Statistics Division - Mr. Trevor Fletcher (20')
Statistical production infrastructure, data sources, information technology, dissemination and user support -
UN Economic Commission for Africa - Mr. Oumar Sarr (20')
Regional geospatial initiatives and experience -
Mauritius - Ms. Cheung Kai Suet (Director of Statistics, Statistics Mauritius) (20')
Administrative data and IT to improve quality and timeliness of official statistics -
Namibia - Ms. Tersia Gowases (Executive of Information Technology and Data Processing, Namibia Statistics Agency) (20')
Namibia Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) in support of national development plannning -
South Africa - Mr. Ashwell Jenneker (Deputy Director General, Statistics South Africa) (20')
The world is moving at a new speed, it expects this of official statistics
General Discussion (20')
13:00 - 14:00
LUNCH BREAK
14:00 - 16:00
Session 4: Mobilizing and securing adequate resources and infrastructure, and promoting regional and global cooperation for the development of national statistical capacity
Chair: Mr. Nyakassi Sanyang (Statistician-General, Gambia Bureau of Statistics)Presentations:
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UN Statistics Division - Mr. Ian Rutherford (Statistician, Statistical Capacity Management) (20')
Developing statistical capacity and specific programmes and tools in the SDG era -
African Development Bank - Mr. Rees Mpofu (20')
The Bank's Contribution to "Managing a Statistical Organization in times of Change" -
Ethiopia - Mr. Biratu Yigezu Gutema (Director General, Central Statistical Agency) and Ms. Aberash Tariku Abaye (Deputy Director, Central Statistical Agency) (20')
Mobilizing resources for the development of statistical capacity - The case of Ethiopia -
South Africa - Mrs. Yandiswa Morudu (Deputy Director General, Statistics South Africa)(20')
National initiatives, good practices, and challenges
General Discussion (20')
Wednesday, 9 October
09:00 - 10:15
Breakout 2: Group discussion for sessions 3 and 4
- Group 3A & B - Set of suggested topics related to session 3 prepared in advance
- Group 4A & B - Set of suggested topics related to session 4 prepared in advance
10:15 - 10:45
TEA/COFFEE BREAK
10:45 - 12:15
Breakout 2: Report in plenary and general discussion (continued)
Facilitator: UN Statistics Division - Ian Rutherford and Trevor Fletcher (advisor)Report back on outcome of breakout session (10' each group) Panelists:
