Methodology

City Groups   Praia Group

Praia Group on Governance Statistics

Purpose

The Praia Group on Governance Statistics (the Praia Group), the first and only city group led by an African country, was created in March 2015 at the forty-sixth session of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC), out of the international recognition that governance statistics are a critical area of statistics that lack the maturity of other statistics and are underinvested in most parts of the world. The Praia Group was created to “contribute to establishing international standards and methods for the compilation of statistics on the major dimensions of governance”. To this end, the Group developed a Handbook on Governance Statistics for National Statistical Offices, which covers the conceptuzalization, measurement methodology and dissemination of statistics on eight dimensions of governance, namely non-discrimination and equality, participation, openness, access to and quality of justice, responsiveness, absence of corruption, trust, and safety and security. The Handbook on Governance Statistics was endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in March 2020.

The Praia Group is running its second term, from 2020-2025. The main objectives of the Praia Group are:

  • a) To provide a forum for national and international statistical organizations, international agencies, academia, research groups and civil society organizations to share and develop expertise in governance statistics;

Points of contact

João de Pina Mendes Cardoso
President of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística de Cabo Verde
Chairman of the Praia Group on Governance Statistics
E-mail: Joao.Cardoso@ine.gov.cv

José Eduardo Silva Garcia
Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Praia Group on Governance Statistics
E-mail: Jose.ES.Garcia@ine.gov.cv

Liliana Ernestina Bettencourt Pinto Mascarenhas Monteiro
Sub-Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Praia Group on Governance Statistics
E-mail: liliana.mascarenhas@ine.gov.cv

  • b) To facilitate awareness among the full Praia membership of national, regional and global initiatives in the area of governance statistics;
  • c) To disseminate the Praia Group’s activities and products through relevant channels, including the Group’s website;
  • d) To disseminate and promote uptake in the use of the Praia handbook on governance statistics,including by supporting capacity-building and training;
  • e) To undertake, every two years, a broad-based consultation to review whether it is necessary to update the handbook;
  • f) To supplement the Handbook with the development of methodological and practical guidelines for the improved gathering and compilation of governance statistics at all levels, including covering issues of concept definition, data sources and the harmonization of governance indicators and drawing on internationally agreed governance and human rights standards. This work will be undertaken through the establishment of task teams;
  • g) To document sound practices and provide inputs for the development of indicadtors supporting the measurement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including its pledges that no one should be left behind and the Agenda should be implemented in a manner consistent with the rights and obligations of States under international law.

The revised terms of reference of the Praia Group can be accessed at: E/CN.3/2020/19

Year organized

2015

Participants

The Praia Group has more than 100 members, including representatives from National Statistical Offices, UN agencies, multilateral and bilateral agencies, and academia.

The Steering Committee comprises representatives from the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Cabo Verde National Statistics Institute (INECV), the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), the National Institute for Statistics and Geography of Mexico (INEGI), the Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

National Statistical Offices:
Algeria, Angola, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Hungary, India, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of Mauritius, Russian Federation, Rwanda, São Tomé e Príncipe, South Africa, Spain, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Viet Nam.

National government entities:
Bureau of Justice Statistics of the United States, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of the United Kindgom (FCDO) and United States Office of Management and Budget.

UN Agencies:
OHCHR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Multilateral organizations:
African Court on Human Rights, African Union Commission, AFRISTAT, Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS), Caribbean Community (CARICOM), ECOWAS, Eurostat, G7+, OECD, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, World Bank.

Research and civil society organizations:
Afrobarometer, Arab Barometer, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance, Euro Barometer, Human Security Report Project, Institute for Economics and Peace, Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Open Society Foundation, Saferworld, Small Arms Survey, TAP Network, Transparency International, World Association for Opinion Research (WAPOR), World Justice Project, World Value Survey.

Academia:
National University of Singapore - Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Seton Hall University, University of Oslo, Witwatersrand University.

Meetings

First meeting: 17 to 19 June 2015 in Praia, Cabo Verde.

Second meeting: 4-6 July 2016, Paris, France

Third meeting: 11 November 2020 (virtual)

Topics considered

Conceptualization, measurement methodology and dissemination of governance statistics.

Reporting to the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC)

Products

Handbook on Governance Statistics
The Handbook on Governance Statistics provides a foundation for the development of international statistical guidance and standards in all areas of governance statistics. It conceptualizes and systematizes the various dimensions of governance statistics, takes stock of and qualifies existing practices in governance data collection, highlights the most important metrics in each dimension of governance statistics, and discusses the way forward required to achieve international statistical standards in each dimension.

The Handbook is divided in two main parts. The first part addresses cross-cutting issues applicable to all or most dimensions of governance statistics. This part provides an overarching framework with common analytical underpinnings informed by international human rights norms and principles that are applicable to all the dimensions. The second part of the Handbook provides guidance on eight dimensions of governance: non-discrimination and equality; participation; openness; access to and quality of justice; responsiveness; absence of corruption; trust; and safety and security. For each dimension, the Handbook provides a conceptualization of the dimension, a discussion of its relevance, a presentation of data and best practices that currently exist, recommended key indicators (including but not limited to indicators for the SDGs) and a suggested way forward to achieve international statistical standards in the context of the dimension.

Governance Statistics in the COVID-19 Era: a Praia City Group Guidance Note
The guidance note was produced to help data producers meet governance data requirements during the pandemic (and other multidimensional crises that may arise in the future) and to provide practical measurement advice which is sensitive to the current operational constraints. It also aims to help data users - such as policy-makers, civil society or media - explore what governance data is needed for sustainable recovery efforts.

Other documents and information about the Group’s activities are available on the Praia Group’s website: http://ine.cv/praiagroup/index.html.

Last updated 10 October 2023