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Updated on 1 February, 2010

UNSD Calendar of Events

The Korean National Statistical Office (KNSO) and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) are jointly organizing a Conference on Climate Change, Development and Official Statistics in the Asia-Pacific Region.

The Conference is to discuss the regional relevance of the recommendations of the Oslo Conference on Climate Change and Official Statistics held in April 2008 and to contribute to the shaping and refining of a roadmap for the development of official climate change statistics at the national, regional and the international level. The roadmap will be submitted to the 40th session of the UN Statistical Commission in February 2009 for further deliberation.

For more information, please see website:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/climate_change/Korea/default.htm

Contact: Eszter Horvath, Tel. +1 212 963 4581, email: horvath@un.org

The purpose of the Workshop is to present international standards for conducting population and housing censuses and to highlight the significant capabilities of contemporary technologies and their use in census mapping activities and data capture. More specifically, the Workshop will cover: (1) the revised international standards for conducting population and housing censuses, focusing on recommended core topics and tabulations as identified in the United Nations Principles and Recommendations Revision 2 and the Conference of European Statisticians Recommendations for the 2010 Censuses of Population and Housing; (2) international recommendations on census planning and management; (3) new approaches in census geography, including the use of Geographical Information Systems and Global Positioning Systems in census mapping; data collection and dissemination; (4) technologies for census data capture, including the use of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR), Optical Character Recognition/Intelligent Character Recognition (OCR/ICR), Internet data collection, use of handheld devices for data collection; (5) discuss the process stages for data capture; and (6) present an overview of major commercial suppliers for data capture.

For more information, please see website:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/wshops/Belarus_8Dec08/default.htm

Contact: Jean-Michel Durr, Tel. +1 917 367 9165, e-mail: durr@un.org

International Workshop on Energy Statistics
Aguascalientes, Mexico, 2-5 December 2008

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), jointly with the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) of Mexico is organizing an International Workshop on Energy Statistics.
The Workshop is part of the consultation process on the draft International Recommendations for Energy Statistics (IRES). The main objectives of the Workshop are to: train participants on current methods and practices in energy statistics; review and discuss issues they face in the collection, compilation and dissemination of energy statistics; and contribute to the development of international recommendations for energy statistics.

For more information, please refer to the website: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/energy/Workshops/mexico2008.htm

Contact: Ilaria DiMatteo, +1 212 963 8491; e-mail: dimatteo@un.org

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1-5 December 2008

Within the framework of the project “Strengthening statistical capacity-building in support of progress towards the Internationally Agreed Development Goals in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region”, the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), in collaboration with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), is organizing a Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics. The workshop will be hosted by the National Statistical Office of Malawi in Blantyre, Malawi from 1 to 5 December, 2008. The purpose of the workshop is to: (a) provide training to SADC countries on the implementation of the United Nations guidelines and international standards on civil registration and vital statistics in terms of concepts, definitions, data collection methods and compilation; (b) assess the current status of the civil registration and vital statistics system in SADC countries and identify gaps to be filled; and (c) review national capacities to produce and provide national vital statistics to UNSD through the Demographic Yearbook questionnaire. The workshop places a special emphasis on assessing the functioning and efficiency of the exchange of information between data sources (civil registration) and producers (national statistical authorities) of vital statistics.

For more information, please refer to the website: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/wshops/Malawi_1Dec08/default.htm

Contact: Haoyi Chen, +1 212 963 4375; e-mail: chen9@un.org

November 2008

The purpose of the Workshop is to highlight the significant additional capabilities of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and other geospatial technologies in census mapping activities, including preparation of enumeration, enumeration operations, advanced analysis and dissemination of census data, and how to successfully implement and use these technologies. More specifically, the Workshop will: (1) introduce the definition of national census geography, including criteria and process of enumeration area (EA) delineation, and coding of geographic areas; (2) present an overview on the different stages in the EA-database development, and on GIS-based data analysis and dissemination; (3) focus on the integration of fieldwork in using satellite/aerial imagery and GPS (4) facilitate a dialogue among participants from Member countries on census mapping with GIS, experiences and practices, with a focus on institutional, organizational, financial, capacity building and implementation issues. The first part of the Workshop will be dedicated to a review of the international recommendations on contemporary practices in census cartography and use of (GIS), as well as the new revised “Handbook on Geospatial infrastructure in support of Census Activities”.

For more information, please see website: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/wshops/Chile_24Nov08/default.htm

Contact: Jean-Michel Durr, Tel. +1 917 367 9165, e-mail: durr@un.org

A United Nations Workshop on International Economic and Social Classifications will be held from 24 to 27 November 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. This Workshop is jointly organized by the Statistics Division (UNSD) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Statistics Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The Workshop will focus on the recent revision processes of economic and social classifications and will in particular review the current implementation and use of national activity and product classifications and their relationship to the International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (ISIC) and the Central Product Classification (CPC); provide an up-to-date account of the final versions of the revised activity and product classifications; provide information on methodological changes related to the application of the classification, such as outlined in the revised introductions; address implementation issues in connection with the revised classifications; and discuss measures to facilitate cooperation in the field of classifications, including coordination of work on regional/sub-regional cooperation in classifications.

Documents for the workshop are available at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/class/intercop/training/escap08/escap08-2.asp

Contact: Ralf Becker, Tel. +1 212 963 4600; email: beckerr@un.org
            Odd Andersen, Tel. +1 212 963 4568; email: anderseno@un.org

Virtual meeting of the Expert Group on International Merchandise Trade Statistics
(EG-IMTS)

5-26 November 2008

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) is organizing a virtual meeting of the Expert Group on International Merchandise Trade Statistics (EG-IMTS) to discuss further the revision of the international recommendations on IMTS. This meeting will be conducted electronically through an 'expert forum' between 5-26 November 2008.

This meeting is an important part of the revision process of the existing recommendations for international merchandise trade statistics which were approved by the UN Statistical Commission at its twenty-ninth session and published in International Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions, Revision 2 (IMTS, Rev.2). The objectives of the meeting are (i) to discuss the results of the first round of worldwide consultation on the 17 issues most relevant for setting the scope of the future recommendations as identified by the EG-IMTS and (ii) to agree on how to incorporate them into the future revised recommendations. To facilitate the discussion UNSD will provide its initial proposals for IMTS, Rev. 3 on all 17 issues which were submitted for consultation. These proposals are based on the results of the first round of worldwide consultation.

For more information regarding this revision process please visit the website of the Expert Group at:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/trade/EG-IMTS/EG-IMTS%20web%20announcement.htm

Contact: Matthias Reister, +1 917 367 7098; e-mail: reister@un.org

The purpose of the Workshop is to present international standards for processing population and housing censuses and to highlight the significant additional capabilities of contemporary technologies and their use for census data capture and data editing. More specifically, the Workshop will: (1) Present revised international standards for conducting population and housing censuses, focusing on recommended core topics as identified in the United Nations Principles and Recommendations Revision 2; (2) Discuss ways of improving the management and planning of the census, including outsourcing issues; (3) Present and discuss contemporary technologies in census data capture, including the use of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR), Optical Character Recognition/Intelligent Character Recognition (OCR/ICR), (4) Discuss the process stages for data capture, (5) Present an overview of major commercial suppliers for data capture; and (6) Present the principles and practices for census data coding and data editing. The workshop will also offer the possibility to the participants to present the experience of their countries in census data processing.

For more information, please see website:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/wshops/Mali_3Nov08/default.htm

Contact: Jean-Michel Durr, Tel. +1 917 367 9165, e-mail: durr@un.org

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) is organizing an expert group meeting (EGM) to discuss the draft of the International Recommendations for Water Statistics (IRWS). The meeting will take place in New York at the United Nations Headquarters from 4 to 6 November 2008.

The IRWS will support: the collection and compilation of water statistics and accounts by countries, the reporting of water data by countries to international agencies, and the construction of water indicators. The IRWS does this by providing a list of recommended data items, with agreed definitions, for collection and compilation, along with the description of sources and methods for water statistics. The IRWS represents a major step forward in the harmonization of methods, concepts and definitions used in the compilation of water statistics and accounts.

For more information, please refer to the website: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/irws

Contact: Jeremy Webb, Tel. +1 212 963 8564, e-mail: webbj@un.org
             Michael Vardon, Tel. +1 917 367 5391, email: vardon@un.org

A United Nations Workshop on International Economic and Social Classifications will be held from 3 to 6 November 2008 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This Workshop is jointly organized by the Statistics Division (UNSD) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the African Centre for Statistics (ACS) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. The Workshop will focus on the recent revision processes of economic and social classifications and will in particular review the current implementation and use of national activity and product classifications and their relationship to the International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (ISIC) and the Central Product Classification (CPC); provide an up-to-date account of the final versions of the revised activity and product classifications; provide information on methodological changes related to the application of the classification, such as outlined in the revised introductions; address implementation issues in connection with the revised classifications; and discuss measures to facilitate cooperation in the field of classifications, including coordination of work on regional/sub regional cooperation in classifications.

Documents for the workshop are available at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/class/intercop/training/eca08/eca08-2.asp

Contact: Ralf Becker, Tel. +1 212 963 4600; email: beckerr@un.org
             Odd Andersen, Tel. +1 212 963 4568; email: anderseno@un.org

October 2008

This meeting is part of the yearly consultations organized to address issues related to the development and production of MDG indicators and initiatives for the promotion and coordination of technical cooperation in countries in relation to the production of data for the MDG indicators.

Contact: Maria Martinho, +1 212 963 4947; e-mail: martinho@un.org

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), in collaboration with the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine and the Interstate Statistical Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CISSTAT) is organizing a workshop on statistics of international trade in services in the CIS countries. The workshop will be hosted by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine between 7 and 9 October 2008 in Kiev.

The workshop aims to train representatives from national statistical offices and central banks from the CIS countries on methodological development of the statistics of trade in services and also the current country-practices in compiling trade in services statistics. The training will focus on both the interpretation of conceptual issues and options for the implementation of the international recommendations in country specific circumstances and facilitate the establishment of a network of statisticians in the CIS countries working on service trade statistics.

http://unstats.un.org/unsd/tradeserv/Workshops/Kiev/October-2008.htm

Contact: Karoly Kovacs, +1 212 963 4748; e-mail: kovacs@un.org

September 2008

The London Group meeting will discuss issues on the research agenda for the revision of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA). Issues to be discussed range from issues in material flow accounts, energy accounts, classification of physical flows, environmental taxes and subsidies as well as emission permits and land and ecosystem accounts.

For more information, please refer to the website:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/londongroup/meeting13.asp

Contact: Alessandra Alfieri, +1 212 963 4590; email: alfieri@un.org

The purpose of the Workshop is to present international standards for processing population and housing censuses and to highlight the significant additional capabilities of contemporary technologies and their use for census data capture and data editing. More specifically, the Workshop will: (1) Present revised international standards for conducting population and housing censuses, focusing on recommended core topics as identified in the United Nations Principles and Recommendations Revision 2; (2) Present and discuss contemporary technologies in census data capture, including the use of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR), Optical Character Recognition/Intelligent Character Recognition (OCR/ICR), Internet data collection, use of handheld devices for data collection, (3) Discuss the process stages for data capture, (4) Present an overview of major commercial suppliers for data capture; (5) Present the principles and practices for census data coding and data editing; and (6) Present international standards for data documentation and archiving and corresponding tools. The workshop will also offer the possibility to the participants to present the experience of their countries in census data processing.

For more information, please refer to the website:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/wshops/Thailand_15Sept08/default.htm

Contact: Jean-Michel Durr, +1 212 367 9165; e-mail: durr@un.org

  
Twelfth Session of the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities
Tunis, Tunisia, 11-12 September 2008

The CCSA was established in 2002, taking over its key objectives from the former ACC Subcommittee on Statistical Activities, namely to promote coordination, integration and complementarity among the statistical programmes of the international organizations. The members of the Committee are the Chief Statisticians of the agencies of the United Nations System, as well as from other international organizations with significant statistical programmes. The Committee meets twice a year and its conclusions are presented to the UN Statistical Commission. This meeting is the first meeting on the African continent—hosted by the African Development Bank.

The agenda of the Twelfth session contains topics, such as population estimates, modalities of data sharing among international organizations, coordination of statistical capacity building activities, consideration of the revised terms of reference for the CCSA.

For more information please refer to the website: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/workpartner_ccsa.htm

Contact: Francesca Perucci, +1 212 963 0212; e-mail: perucci@un.org

The purpose of the meeting is threefold. First, it aims at identifying the scope and content of contemporary social statistics in order to identify areas that need to be addressed by an international plan of action. In essence, for each social concern there needs to be an accompanying statistical data collection that requires relevant concepts and definitions, international standards, recommended topics, recommended tabulations, defined periodicity, and sources of data. Collected data would also need to be disaggregated by population groups (young, elderly, women, to name a few) and by geographical levels. Second, the meeting will address the issue of an international action plan for improving social statistics, pertaining to areas that require additional work, as well as on related issues such as coordination among various agencies and institutions regarding social statistics at both the national and international levels. This draft action plan would position the United Nations Statistics Division to continue conducting a thorough review and assessment of social statistics and point to the necessary developmental work on international standards. Finally, the meeting is expected to result in the draft terms of reference for the proposed city group, if the need for such a group is clearly identified. The proposal for establishment of the city group replacing the Siena City Group on Social Statistics was initiated at the Seminar on New Directions in Social Statistics, held on 22 February 2008 in New York.

For more information, please refer to the website:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/egm/social_stat_2008.htm

Contact: Srdjan Mrkic, +1 212 963 4940; e-mail: mrkic@un.org

At its thirty-ninth session (26 - 29 February 2008) the Statistical Commission endorsed the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) initiative and strategy to revise the existing recommendations for international merchandise trade statistics and requested that the draft revised recommendations be submitted to the Commission for adoption at its forty-first session in 2010. One key element of the UNSD revision strategy is a worldwide consultation process with national trade statistics compilers. In this context UNSD in cooperation with the Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific (UN/ESCAP) organizes a workshop for Developing Countries on the Revision of the Recommendations for International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS), which will take place from 9 to 12 September 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. This workshop is part of a special effort of UNSD and UN/ESCAP to inform and receive feedback from developing countries on this revision process. The workshop will review and discuss the current recommendations on international merchandise trade statistics contained in International Merchandise Trade Statistics, Revision 2 (IMTS, Rev.2), in particular but not limited to the important issues identified by the expert group on IMTS in its first meeting in December 2007 and subject to a worldwide consultation.

The report of the expert group meeting and the document for worldwide consultation which was sent to countries in May 2008 are available at the website of the expert group at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/trade/WS%20Bangkok08/WS%20Bangkok08_workshop_imts_trade.htm

Contact: Matthias Reister, +1 917 367 7098; e-mail: reister@un.org

August 2008

Sub-regional workshop on Water Accounts for ESCWA and GCC Countries
Beirut, Lebanon, 25-28 August 2008

The Sub-regional workshop will bring together the experts from the National Statistical Offices, from Ministries of Water in the six Arab Gulf Countries, and from concerned research centres, to share experiences in the development of water statistics and accounts. The workshop will focus on water accounts and aims to enhance their understanding of the System of Environmental Accounts for Water (SEEA-W) to facilitate the implementation of the System and compilation of the recommended standard tables of the SEEA-W.

This workshop is part of UNSD’s global promotion of the SEEA-W, following the adoption of the SEEA-W as an interim international statistical standard in 2007. The SEEAW is an information system suitable for supporting Integrated Water Resources Management and the development of policy relevant indicators.

Contact: Michael Vardon, +1 917 367 5391; e-mail: vardon@un.org

United Nations Workshop on Manufacturing Statistics
Lima, Peru , 19-22 August 2008

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), in collaboration with Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), is organizing a Workshop on Manufacturing Statistics, scheduled for 19-22 August 2008 in Santiago, Chile. This workshop continues the programme for the development of comprehensive and comparable manufacturing statistics in the Latin American region, initiated by an exploratory workshop in September 2007.
The main purpose of this workshop is to discuss issues of classification and classifications revision in the manufacturing sector, as well as the set up and maintenance of business registers related to manufacturing statistics. The workshop will also focus on data sources for data items listed in the International Recommendations for Industrial Statistics (IRIS) 2008.

Contact: Ralf Becker, +1 212 963 4600; e-mail: beckerr@un.org

Workshop on the standardization of geographical names
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 4-8 August 2008

A workshop on the standardization of geographical names will be held jointly organized by the African Organization of Cartography and Remote Sensing (AOCRS) and the Institut Géographique du Burkina Faso and co-organized by the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names and UNSD.
The following units will be included:

  • Problems of toponymic administration in Africa
  • Definitions and advantages of geographical names standardization
  • Functions of geographical names and the process of naming places
  • National geographical names authorities
  • Terminology
  • Problems in standardization
  • Office treatment of names
  • Problems of street naming
  • Policies, procedures and guidelines
  • Fieldwork
  • Methodology, preparation
  • Practical exercise of gathering toponyms in the field
  • Examining the results
  • Toponymic databases and gazetteers
  • Aspects of international standardization and the involvement of the United Nations

Contact: Yacob Zewoldi, +1 212 963 0445; e-mail: zewoldi@un.org

July 2008

Workshop on the Organization of National Statistical Systems and User-Producer Relations
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 21-24 July 2008

The United Nations Statistics Division in collaboration with the Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka is organizing a "Workshop on the Organization of National Statistical Systems and User-Producer Relations". It will take place from 21 to 24 July 2008 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The workshop aims at highlighting the role of the national statistical office in general and, in particular, its relation to major user groups. This workshop is organized under a Development Account project on "Strengthening statistical capacity -building in support of progress towards the Internationally Agreed Developments Goals in countries of South Asia". In addition to the Workshop, a consultation session with other development partners will be held in the afternoon of July 21 on statistical capacity-building in South Asia.

Contact: Youlia Antonova, Tel. +1 212 367 3376, email: antonova@un.org

United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Industrial Statistics
New York, 15-17 July 2008

The Statistics Division (UNSD) is hosting a meeting of the United Nations Expert Group on Industrial Statistics from 15 to 17 July 2008. The meeting will (i) focus on the review of draft text for the Index Numbers of Industrial Production (IIP) publication which is scheduled to be presented to the Statistical Commission in 2009; (ii) discuss technical cooperation on industrial statistics, i.e. coordination, regional approach, volunteers for specific areas; and (iii) review a prototype of the UNSD knowledge platform on economic statistics.

Contact: Marcel Van Kints, +1 212 963 2316; e-mail: vankints@un.org

National Water Accounting Workshop
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 14-18 July 2008

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), with the support of the Government of the Dominican Republic, ECLAC and the National Water Commission of Mexico, will conduct a workshop on water accounting in Santo Domingo, 14-18 July 2008. The workshop will bring together experts from the Department of Environment, Central Bank, National Statistics Office and other stakeholders in order to prepare water accounts for the Dominican Republic. The workshop will focus on the implementation on the standard tables from the System for Environmental-Economic accounting for Water (SEEAW), the relevant international statistical standard. Particular attention will be paid to the physical supply and use tables, hybrid account and asset account of the SEEAW.

Contact Michael Vardon, +1 917 367 5391, e-mail: vardon@un.org

Conference on Data Quality for International Organizations
Rome, Italy, 7-8 July 2008

The Conference on Data Quality for International Organizations will be held immediately prior to the Q2008 - European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics (Rome, 9-11 July 2008) under the auspices of the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA).

The purpose of the conference is to provide statistical experts from international or supra-national organisations with a forum to discuss specific data quality issues related to their work and exchange experiences regarding the various quality mechanisms developed for improving the collection and dissemination of international data. It is proposed that the discussions at this year's meeting will build on the extensive work in the field of data quality assessment that has recently been undertaken by CCSA under the leadership of Eurostat, and which has led to the preparation of guidelines for the Implementation of Quality Assurance Frameworks for International Organizations Compiling Statistics (refer also to SA/2007/14/Add.4). This year's conference offers therefore a unique opportunity to discuss how these guidelines, or specific elements thereof, can be applied in international agencies.

For more information, please refer to the website:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/accsub/CDQIO-2008.htm

Contact: Mary Jane Holupka, +1 212 963 4578; e-mail: holupka@un.org

June 2008

Third Meeting of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting (UNCEEA)
New York, 26-27 June 2008

The UNCEEA is a strategic body providing coordination, setting priorities, bringing forward a research agenda, taking decisions on standards and developing strategic visions in environmental-economic accounting. The Committee meets on an annual basis. The Third meeting will discuss new terms of reference for the Committee to encompass not only environmental-economic accounting but also environment statistics. It will also discuss the project management framework for the revision of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, including the timeline and governance of the project and monitor the progress of work of the groups working within its mandate.

Contact: Alessandra Alfieri, +1 212 963 4590; email:alfieri@un.org

Special Session on Climate Change
New York, 25 June (afternoon) 2008

The meeting is being organized as a follow-up to the Conference on Climate Change and Official Statistics (Oslo, 14-16 June 2008) which recognized the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) as a useful framework for climate change and requested the United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting to oversee the statistical work on climate change. The objective of the Special Session is to brainstorm on existing initiatives and various stakeholders with the objective to developing a programme of work.

Contact: Alessandra Alfieri, +1 212 963 4590; email: alfieri@un.org

DESA-Seminar on "Global Statistical System and UN Development Agenda: Building Structures for Development"
New York, 23 June 2008

This Seminar will present UNSD's vision for advancing the Global Statistical System and establishing statistical and spatial infrastructures as supporting components. The System currently operates well within a normative framework with established professional ethics and methodological guidelines, and has embarked on projects of global scale. However, it is conservative in nature, and has yet to focus its attention (and its resources) on emerging development issues. The seminar hopes to explore ways in which the Global Statistical System could respond more effectively to the measurement requirements of urgent development issues.

For more information, please refer to the pdf:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/img/test/announcements/seminar_opt2_final.pdf

Contact: Stefan Schweinfest, Tel. +1 212 963 4849, email: schweinfest@un.org

Data Managers' Meeting
New York, 19-20 June 2008

As part of the effort by the UN Statistics Division to facilitate the easy access to the data resources of the UN System in February 2008, UNdata (data.un.org), a web-based data access system, was launched to the public. In this context, UNSD is organizing a Data Managers meeting. The overall objective is to bring the database experts of the UN partner agencies together, especially those who have already contributed data to the system and those who intend to do so in the near future. The specific objectives are (i) for UNSD to inform the partners on the latest developments of the system, (ii) for the partner agencies to discuss the current content and planned future updates of UNdata and (iii) to reach agreements on in the form of individual "Memoranda of Understanding" on the maintenance of the system, in particular the frequency of data and metadata updates. The meeting will be conducted in English.

Contact: Stefan Schweinfest, Tel. +1 212 963 4849, email: schweinfest@un.org

Workshop for Francophone African Countries on the Implementation of International Recommendations for Distributive Trade Statistics
Bamako, Mali, 17-20 June 2008

This workshop is being organized by the UN Statistics Division in collaboration with the Economic and Statistical Observatory of Sub-Saharan Africa (AFRISTAT). The main purposes of the workshop are: (a) to present and discuss the IRDTS 2008; (b) to review the state of distributive trade statistics compilation in African countries; and (c) to identify the challenges and good practices in their collection, compilation and dissemination. The workshop will contribute to the preparation of future manuals that will provide practical guidance to compilers of distributive trade statistics. The workshop will be conducted in French.

Contact: Thierno Balde, Tel. +1 212 963 5510, email: baldet@un.org

Regional Workshop on Census data processing: contemporary technologies for data capture, methodology and practice of data editing
Dar es Salaam
, Tanzania , 9-13 June 2008

The purpose of the Workshop is to present international standards for processing population and housing censuses and to highlight the significant additional capabilities of contemporary technologies and their use for census data capture and data editing. More specifically, the Workshop will: (1) Present revised international standards for conducting population and housing censuses, focusing on recommended core topics as identified in the United Nations Principles and Recommendations Revision 2; (2) Discuss ways of improving the management and planning of the census, including outsourcing issues; (3) Present and discuss contemporary technologies in census data capture, including the use of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR), Optical Character Recognition/Intelligent Character Recognition (OCR/ICR), (4) Discuss the process stages for data capture, (5) Present an overview of major commercial suppliers for data capture; and (6) Present the principles and practices for census data coding and data editing. The workshop will also offer the possibility to the participants to present the experience of their countries in census data processing.

For more information, please refer to the website:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/wshops/Tanzania_9June08/default.htm

Contact: Jean-Michel Durr, Tel. +1 917 367 9165, e-mail: durr@un.org

May 2008

Workshop for Anglophone African Countries on the Implementation of International Recommendations for Distributive Trade Statistics
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 27-30 May 2008

This workshop is being organized by the UN Statistics Division in collaboration with the African Centre for Statistics of the UN Economic Commission for Africa The main purposes of the workshop are: (a) to present and discuss the IRDTS 2008; (b) to review the state of distributive trade statistics compilation in African countries; and (c) to identify the challenges and good practices in their collection, compilation and dissemination. The workshop will contribute to the preparation of future manuals that will provide practical guidance to compilers of distributive trade statistics. The workshop will be conducted in English.

Contact: Youlia Antonova, Tel. +1 212 367 3376, email: antonova@un.org

Workshop on Environment Statistics
Abuja, Nigeria, 19-23 May 2008

The United Nations Statistics Division, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme and the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is organizing a Workshop on Environment Statistics at the ECOWAS Commission headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria for about forty-one participants from national statistical offices and environmental ministries/agencies from the ECOWAS member states. The main objectives of the Workshop are to: (a) adopt a list of environmental statistics and indicators for the ECOWAS region for national and regional reporting based on the African regional list of environmental statistics and indicators agreed upon at the UNSD/UNEP/ECA Workshop on Environment Statistics in July 2007; (b) review draft methodologies for the set of indicators agreed upon at the UNSD/UNEP/ECA Workshop on Environment Statistics in July 2007; (c) review the draft ECOWAS regional programme on environment statistics; (d) train participants from national statistical offices and environmental ministries/agencies on basic concepts, methods and best practices in environment statistics; (e) provide a forum for exchange of information on the status of national environment statistics; and (f) enhance the capacity of statisticians in developing countries to develop and improve their capabilities in environment statistics. The Workshop will cover statistics on freshwater resources and their use, marine resources, land use and land degradation, forests, biodiversity, air emissions and air quality; waste; natural disasters and environmental health, based on the UNSD/UNEP Questionnaire on Environment Statistics and other training/methodological material.

Contact: Reena Shah, Tel. +1 212 963 4586, email: shahr@un.org

UNSD-ESCWA Regional Workshop on Census data processing in the ESCWA region: contemporary technologies for data capture, methodology and practice of data editing
Doha, Qatar, 18-22 May 2008

The purpose of the Workshop is to present international standards for processing population and housing censuses and to highlight the significant additional capabilities of contemporary technologies and their use for census data capture and data editing. More specifically, the Workshop will: (1) Present revised international standards for conducting population and housing censuses, focusing on recommended core topics as identified in the United Nations Principles and Recommendations Revision 2; (2) Discuss ways of improving the management and planning of the census, including outsourcing issues; (3) Present and discuss contemporary technologies in census data capture, including the use of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR), Optical Character Recognition/Intelligent Character Recognition (OCR/ICR), Internet data collection, use of handheld devices for data collection, (4) Discuss the process stages for data capture, (5) Present an overview of major commercial suppliers for data capture; and (6) Present the principles and practices for census data coding and data editing. The workshop will also offer the opportunity to the participants to present the experience of their countries in census data processing.

For more information, please refer to the website:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/wshops/Qatar_18May08/default.htm

Contact: Jean Michel Durr, Tel. +1 917 367 9165, e-mail: durr@un.org

Joint UNSD- Eurostat Conference on "International Outreach and Coordination in National Accounts for Sustainable Growth and Development"
Luxembourg, Luxembourg, 6-8 May 2008

The United Nations Statistics Division and Eurostat will jointly organize a high level Conference on "International Outreach and Coordination in National Accounts for Sustainable Growth and Development, on6 - 8 May 2008 in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. This Conference will be an opportunity to bring together producers and users of statistics as well as technical and financial partners from all regions of the world. The main objective is to facilitate the outreach of the System of National Accounts (SNA) within a context that is mindful of the development cooperation issues necessary to support poverty reduction and sustainable growth and development strategies. 
More specific objectives include:

  • facilitating the outreach of the SNA in developing countries;
  • promoting international coordination in an area where different partners are particularly active at bilateral and multilateral level;
  • establishing directions for development co-operation in the field of national accounts in order to improve coordination and efficiency of aid and sustainability of project results;
  • orienting national statistical systems at country level to improve the quality, production and dissemination of data in a sustainable way.

It is expected that, at its conclusion, the conference will adopt an action plan for implementation in addition to operational recommendations for the attention of the developing countries and their technical and financial partners.

For more information, please refer to the website:
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page?_pageid=2313,68881303&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Contact: Karen Cassamajor, Tel. +1 212 963 4561, email: cassamajor@un.org

Workshop on Coordination of reporting mechanisms and Data Discrepancies in the MDG monitoring
Kampala, Uganda, 5-8 May 2008

This workshop will bring together national statistical offices and international agencies and provide an opportunity to explore ways to reconcile national and international data. It will also provide national statistical offices with more training in the production of data for MDGs monitoring at the national and sub-national levels.

Contact: Maria Martinho, Tel. +1 212 963 4947, email: martinho@un.org

April 2008

Workshop on Household Surveys and Measurement of Labour Force with Focus on Informal Economy
Maseru, Lesotho, 14-18 April 2008

The Workshop is being organized by the United Nations Statistics Division, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as part of the project "Strengthening statistical capacity-building in support of progress towards the Internationally Agreed Development Goals in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region". The Workshop will train representatives from the National Statistical Offices and Ministries of Labour of the SADC region countries on the measurement of women's and men's participation in the labour force through household surveys, with a particular focus on statistics on employment in the informal sector and informal employment.

For more information, please refer to the website:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/newsletter/unsd_workshops/steering_committee.htm

Contact: Yacob Zewoldi, Tel. +1 212 963 0445, email: zewoldi@un.org

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), in collaboration with the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), the World Bank and Statistics Norway, will convene an international conference on climate change and official statistics.

For more information, please refer to the website:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/climate_change/default.htm

Contact: Eszter Horvath, Tel. +1 212 963 4581, email: horvath@un.org

United Nations Expert Group Meeting to Review the Draft Handbook on Geographic Databases and Census Mapping
New York, 7-10 April 2008

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) is organizing an expert group meeting to review the draft Handbook on Geographic Databases and Census Mapping. The Handbook provides detailed technical and operational guidance on the recent developments in technology, methods and standardization related to geographic information and census mapping, which have been reflected in the recently adopted Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses, Revision 2, and draws on the experiences of countries in using geospatial technologies with census mapping operations.

For more information, please refer to the website: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/egm/CensusMapping_Handbook_EGM08/default.htm

Contact: Amor Laaribi, Tel. +1 212 963 3042, email: laaribi@un.org

February 2008

39th Session of the UN Statistical Commission
New York, 26-29 February 2008

The thirty-ninth session of the Statistical Commission is scheduled to be held at United Nations Headquarters, New York from 26 to 29 February 2008.

For more information, please refer to the website:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/commission_39th_session.htm

Contact: Li Wang, Tel. +1 212 963 9547, email: wangl@un.org

Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary technologies and regional cooperation
Noumea, New Caledonia, 4-8 February 2008

The purpose of the Workshop is to present international standards for conducting population and housing censuses. It will provide an opportunity for exploring ways of strengthening regional cooperation in establishing joint ventures during various stages of population and housing censuses in the Pacific region. The workshop will also cover the use of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for census and survey data capture, and Geographical Information System (GIS) and other geospatial technologies in census mapping activities. More specifically, the Workshop will: (1)Present revised international standards for conducting population and housing censuses, focusing on recommended core topics as identified in the United Nations Principles and Recommendations Revision 2; (2) Discuss ways of improving the capacity of national statistical offices to implement the revised Principles and Recommendations by reviewing a proposed Pacific Islands model census questionnaire and possibilities for its coordinated implementation ; (3) Present and discuss new approaches in census geography, including the use of Geographical Information Systems and Global Positioning Systems in census mapping, data collection and dissemination, and disaster management and explore the use of optical character recognition solutions (OCR) for census and survey data capture in the SPC region.G

Contact: Jean-Michel Durr, Tel. +1 917 367 9165, e-mail: durr@un.org