Twenty-ninth session
10-14 February 1997
Item 12 of the provisional agenda*
The present report has been prepared in response to the request by the Statistical Commission at its twenty-eighth session (New York, 27 February-3 March 1995) that the United Nations Statistics Division submit a consolidated report on the state of technical cooperation in the field of statistics to the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination.
|
| The information obtained from both donors and recipients has been
aggregated and is provided in annex I and annex II respectively of this
report.
|
| At the request of the Working Group at its eighteenth session, held in
New York, from 16 to 18 April 1996 (see document E/CN.3/1997/19, para. 36),
two reports on crucial issues on technical cooperation were prepared, one by
the Secretary-General (E/CN.3/1997/18/Add.1) and one by Statistics Canada
(E/CN.3/1997/18/Add.2).
|
| INTRODUCTION ........................................... | 1 | 3 |
| I. ACTIONS TAKEN ......................................... | 2 - 8 | 3 |
| II. POINTS FOR DISCUSSION............................... | 9 | 4 |
| I. TECHNICAL COOPERATION IN STATISTICS (DONOR INFORMATION) | 5 |
| II. TECHNICAL COOPERATION IN STATISTICS (RECIPIENT INFORMATION) | 6 |
| III.LIST OF REPLIES RECEIVED FROM COUNTRIES/ORGANIZATIONS IN RESPONSE TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE ON TECHNICAL COOPERATION | 8 |
2. Based on experience gained from previous questionnaires and a pilot study undertaken in August 1995, the United Nations Statistics Division believed that it was not feasible to classify technical cooperation funding information precisely in a uniform manner, given the varying methods and definitions adopted in the process of accounting for technical cooperation by different donors and recipients as well as the different accounting periods.
3. Accordingly, the United Nations Statistics Division decided not to provide a precise definition for the term "technical cooperation funding in statistics" or to disaggregate such a category. It recognized that each statistical office might interpret this category differently. However, the common culture of national statistics offices was such that the differences should be reasonably small and the aggregate information might still be useful.
4. The information sought for the report included direction or source of technical cooperation (depending on whether the country was a donor or recipient), the project title and a brief description, as well as the annual cost of the assistance involved.
5. The questionnaire requesting the information on technical cooperation was sent to 25 donor countries, 25 international donor organizations and 158 recipient countries as well as four countries that were grouped as both donors and recipients.
6. Thirty-three donor countries and organizations responded. In addition, 41 developing countries and countries with economies in transition also responded. However, only eight donor countries, four donor organizations and the European Communities, and 27 recipient countries were able to supply values of technical assistance provided and received. (Some donor countries and organizations provided substantial descriptive material of their technical assistance activities without value indicators.) Therefore, value figures of technical assistance provided are by no means to be considered complete and accurate.
7. That most recipient countries that responded provided only sporadic value figures for certain statistical projects for some years made it difficult to analyse the situation. An attempt was also made to aggregate value figures by country/organization in one common currency (in this case, United States dollars. The harmonization was made using mid-point exchange rates for respective years. Therefore, currency fluctuation might also affect the results of the aggregation. The quantitative responses to the questionnaire are shown in annex I to this report for donor countries/organizations and in annex II for recipient countries. Countries/organizations that provided value figures even for one year are included in the annexes. A full list of the countries/organizations that responded to the inquiry is provided in annex III.
8. For the donor countries listed in annex I, technical assistance provided increased from 11 million dollars to 15 million dollars over the period 1992-1994. However, there was a decrease to under 9 million dollars in 1995. It should be noted that many donor countries are not represented in annex I, and also that there is little correlation between the totals provided by donor countries and those provided by recipient countries, lending further doubt as to the utility of these data. With regard to the donor organizations that reported, amounts in 1992 and 1993 were stable; there was a 30 per cent decline in 1994 and a further 30 per cent decline between 1994 and 1995. The assistance provided by the European Union fluctuated considerably from year to year with a low of 7 million dollars in 1994 and a high of 34 million dollars in 1995.
9. The Commission may wish to:
(a) Discuss what, if any, generalizable conclusion may be drawn from the data provided;
(b) Comment on points made in documents E/CN.3/1997/18/Add.1 and E/CN.3/1997/18/Add.2;
(c) Consider ways to obtain more complete and accurate information on funding for technical cooperation.
1 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1995, Supplement No. 8 (E/1995/28), para. 87 (c).
Annex I
| Amount (in US dollars) | |||||
| Number | Country/organization | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
| 1 | Australia | 129 614 | 130 535 | 199 300 | 93 890 |
| 2 | Austria | Not available | 2 635 | 5 129 | 2 440 |
| 3 | Canada | 558 247 | 453 240 | 845 316 | 621 633 |
| 4 | Finland | 3 813 | 9 509 | 12 650 | 72 264 |
| 5 | Japan | 4 375 866 | 4 606 169 | 5 308 564 | 71 476 |
| 6 | Portugal | 6 133 | 28 645 | 17 629 | 38 317 |
| 7 | United Kingdom | 445 168 | 2 406 819 | 3 052 097 | 2 531 788 |
| 8 | United States | 5 627 219 | 5 143 219 | 5 974 069 | 5 566 851 |
| Total (countries) | 11 146 060 | 12 780 771 | 15 414 754 | 8 998 659 | |
| 9 | FAOa | 11 906 439 | 12 585 141 | 8 092 356 | 5 747 768 |
| 10 | ISIb | 30 000 | 12 000 | 36 000 | 30 000 |
| 11 | UNESCOc | 1 112 500 | 713 300 | 896 700 | 583 166 |
| 12 | UNIDOd | 595 400 | 174 500 | 671 965 | 232 000 |
| Total (organizations) | 13 644 339 | 13 484 941 | 9 697 021 | 6 592 934 | |
| 13 | European Communities | 17 471 080 | 21 305 174 | 6 614 020 | 33 537 120 |
a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
b International Statistical Institute.
c United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
d United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
| Amount (in US dollars) | |||||
| Number | Country | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
| 1 | Barbados | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 75 000 |
| 2 | Belarus | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 306 000 |
| 3 | Belize | 21 579 | 110 197 | 103 892 | n.a. |
| 4 | Bolivia | 1 084 893 | 764 111 | 314 784 | 521 862 |
| 5 | Cyprus | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 143 900 |
| 6 | Czech Republic | 52 747 | 65 183 | 27 260 | 42 589 |
| 7 | Ecuador | n.a. | 23 614 | n.a. | 15 000 |
| 8 | Indonesia | 40 000 | n.a. | 1 027 144 | 443 260 |
| 9 | Jordan | n.a. | n.a. | 104 368 | 175 451 |
| 10 | Kyrgyzstan | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 2 806 636 |
| 11 | Latvia | n.a. | n.a. | 866 000 | 738 433 |
| 12 | Malaysia | n.a. | 341 091 | 94 025 | n.a. |
| 13 | Marshall Islands | n.a. | 65 000 | 10 000 | 20 000 |
| 14 | Morocco | n.a. | 113 540 | 136 780 | 188 278 |
| 15 | Panama | n.a. | 594 000 | n.a. | 195 500 |
| 16 | Peru | 479 964 | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| 17 | Philippines | 1 394 832 | 474 737 | 205 377 | 338 005 |
| 18 | Romania | 4 542 000 | 10 602 | 5 483 540 | 331 960 |
| 19 | Slovakia | 1 298 000 | n.a. | 374 850 | 2 092 800 |
| 20 | Slovenia | 12 392 | 11 655 | 96 837 | 55 827 |
| 21 | Sri Lanka | 300 000 | n.a. | n.a. | 35 000 |
| 22 | Swaziland | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 385 619 |
| 23 | Syrian Arab Republic | n.a. | 256 191 | 196 425 | 510 871 |
| 24 | Thailand | 425 925 | n.a. | n.a. | 45 000 |
| 25 | Uganda | 1 072 479 | 2 301 865 | 1 631 966 | 3 703 413 |
| 26 | Ukraine | 220 551 | 429 080 | 364 130 | 89 430 |
| 27 | Venezuela | n.a. | n.a. | 194 750 | n.a. |
| Total | 10 945 362 | 5 560 866 | 11 232 158 | 13 259 834 | |
Note: "n.a." means data unavailable.
1. Australian Bureau of Statistics
2. Federal Statistical Office, Germany
3. Statistics Bureau, Japan
4. Statistics Canada
5. Austrian Central Statistical Office
6. Statistics Denmark
7. Statistics Finland
8. National Statistical Service of Greece
9. Statistics Iceland
10. National Statistical Office, Republic of Korea
11. Statistics Netherlands
12. Statistics New Zealand
13. National Statistical Institute, Portugal
14. Office of Management and Budget, United States of America
1. United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
2. International Labour Organization (ILO)
3. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
4. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
5. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
6. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
7. Universal Postal Union (UPU)
8. International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
9. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
10. World Trade Organization
11. Information Systems Coordination Committee (ISCC)
12. World Customs Organization (WCO)
13. Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat)
14. Inter-American Statistical Institute (IASI)
15. International Statistical Institute (ISI)
16. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
17. Overseas Development Administration (ODA)
18. United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
19. World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD))
1. Armenia
2. Barbados
3. Belarus
4. Belize
5. Bermuda
6. Bolivia
7. Bulgaria
8. Cyprus
9. Czech Republic
10. Ecuador
11. Egypt
12. Estonia
13. Haiti
14. Hungary
15. Indonesia
16. Jamaica
17. Jordan
18. Kazakstan
19. Kyrgyzstan
20. Latvia
21. Malawi
22. Malaysia
23. Maldives
24. Marshall Islands
25. Mexico
26. Morocco
27. Panama
28. Peru
29. Philippines
30. Romania
31. Slovakia
32. Swaziland
33. Thailand
34. Turkey
35. Uganda
36. Venezuela
37. Yugoslavia
38. Nicaragua
39. Sri Lanka
40. Syrian Arab Republic
41. Ukraine