Demographic and Social Statistics

FOCG on Social and Demographic Statistics

Friends of the Chair Group on Social and Demographic Statistics


Purpose

In 2022, the Statistical Commission requested a review of the social and demographic statistics through a Friends of the Chair (FoC) mechanism, as outlined in Decision 53/105 on Working methods of the Statistical Commission.

The Friends of the Chair (FoC) Group on Social and Demographic Statistics is a group created by the 53rd Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission to review these statistical areas and provide recommendations for strengthened social and demographic statistics that better reflect society and its connections with the environment and the economy.

The overall objective of the Friends of the Chair Group is to produce specific recommendations for an agile and more responsive system of social and demographic statistics, in line with the central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to leave no one behind, while anticipating data needs beyond 2030.

  • (Members only)


    Year organized

    2023


    Terms of Reference

  • Terms of Reference for the Friends of the Chair Group on Social and Demographic Statistics
  • Terms of Reference Addendum

  • Participants

    Members of the Group include chief statisticians from Bhutan, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Ghana, Indonesia, Jordan, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Rwanda, South Africa, United Kingdom and Uruguay. Observers include independent expert Gabriella Vukovich and representatives from International Labour Organisation (ILO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), and World Health Organization (WHO).


    Events

    The Friends of the Chair group on social and demographic statistics (FOC), under the mandate of the Statistical Commission, is advancing research towards an overarching conceptual framework for social and demographic statistics. This initiative aligns with the group's objective of formulating strategic recommendations to enhance these statistics.

    The FOC group recognizes that fundamentally, social statistics revolve around people and their relationships. Demographic statistics provide evidence regarding the quantity and characteristics of people, whereas social statistics demonstrate how people are doing, and measure their standards of living in terms of a set of outcomes across multiple domains, in different places and over time. In this context, the group has identified five key building blocks for the overarching conceptual framework: people, relationships, outcomes, time, and places.

    The Sprint series, organized by the Friends of the Chair group in collaboration with UNSD, will explore how to enhance and connect each key building block to produce social and demographic statistics that better reflect society and its connections with the environment and the economy. Each webinar will provide a platform for presenters to showcase significant aspects of their work and engage in discussions about measuring different elements of the building blocks and their connections across various statistical domains.





    Documents presented to the Statistical Commission

    2023

    Report of the Secretary-General on Statistical Commission for the fifty-fourth session of the Statistical Commission

    2024

    Report of the Friends of the Chair Group on Social and Demographic Statistics for the fifty-fifth session of the Statistical Commission

    Background documents

    Friends of the Chair Group on Social and Demographic Statistics - Workstream 1: Mapping and reviewing the collective global and regional work in the area of social and demographic statistics
    Friends of the Chair Group on Social and Demographic Statistics - Workstream 2: Promising Practices for Social and Demographic Statistics
    Friends of the Chair Group on Social and Demographic Statistics - Workstream 3: Communication Strategies for Social and Demographic Statistics