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SECRETARIAT OF THE PACIFIC COMMUNITY13th Regional Meeting of Heads of Statistics(Nouméa, New Caledonia, 15–19 September 2003) DETAILED REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS, INCLUDING RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction1. The Thirteenth Regional Meeting of Heads of Statistics (STATS 13) was held at the headquarters of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in Nouméa from 15 to 19 September 2003. It was attended by 18 Pacific Island and two metropolitan member countries and territories of the SPC: namely Australia[1], Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Cook Islands1, Federated States of Micronesia1, Republic of the Fiji Islands1, French Polynesia1, Guam1, Kiribati1, Nauru1, New Caledonia1, New Zealand1, Niue1, Palau1, Papua New Guinea1, Samoa1, Solomon Islands1, Tonga1, Tuvalu1, Vanuatu1 and Wallis and Futuna1. )([1] The official delegate came from the NSO or equivalent). Numerous observers from regional and international agencies also attended: the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), The United Kingdom Department of International Development (DFID), the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the European Commission (Eurostat), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFSec), the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID), the Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre (PFTAC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 2. The meeting was funded in part from the SPC core budget allocation, with significant contributions from UN agencies (UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF)and DFID (through the PRISM Project). It was preceded by a Technical Meeting to review the progress of the Pacific Regional Information System (PRISM) from 11 to 12 September. The report from that technical meeting was submitted to STATS 13 as a working paper. Agenda item 1 – OPENING OF THE MEETING3. The STATS 13 meeting was opened by Ms Lourdes Pangelinan, Director-General of the SPC. In her opening address the Director-General noted the excellent representation of SPC member countries and territories at the meeting as well as the number and range of agency representatives. 4. The Director-General noted that the meeting focused on the review of the Statistics and Demography/Population Programmes and provided important input and guidance to the planning process for these two SPC Programmes. 5. The Director-General stressed the importance of producing information such as the indicators for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the importance of building a sense of national ownership in collecting such information. She also mentioned that it was important to demonstrate that measuring MDGs will bring benefits to national planning and decision-makers. 6. The Director-General also made mention of the exciting progress being made with both the PRISM and GIS projects. She stated that these projects were outstanding initiatives and she very much looked forward to watching them develop even further over the coming years. 7. Finally, the Director-General wished the meeting well with its demanding agenda over the next five days and in developing outcomes from its deliberations that will be paid great heed in many quarters. Agenda item 2 – ELECTION OF OFFICIALS8. A three-person Executive Committee was elected by the meeting: M. Gaston Lutui (Wallis and Futuna) as Chairperson; Mr James A Santos (Northern Mariana Islands) as Vice-Chairperson; and Mr Pioni Willie (Vanuatu) as Rapporteur. Agenda item 3 – ADOPTION OF AGENDA9. The Statistician presented the Provisional Agenda to the meeting which they agreed to accept. Agenda item 4 – EXPECTED OUTPUTS FROM THE MEETING10. The Statistician presented four issues which needed to be addressed with respect to the meeting outputs: (a) the effectiveness of reviewing the activities of the Statistics and Demography/Population Programmes at three-yearly intervals, while bearing in mind the unlikeliness of securing internal SPC funding for more frequent Regional Meetings of Heads of Statistics; (b) the suitability of reporting arrangements proposed for this meeting; (c) the proposed prioritisation of recommendations being limited to those which have financial implications for the SPC and potential donor agencies; and (d) the need for an up to date statement of regional statistical priorities. 11. With respect to the first point, the meeting agreed that issues such as funding and the degree of activity or rapid developments would play the lead role in determining the frequency. Several countries expressed an interest in increasing the frequency to two years, due to the number of emerging issues at the moment such as PRISM, GIS and MDGs. However, most delegates appeared comfortable with maintaining the current frequency of three years, with the option of undertaking additional meetings if the need arises and provided funding can be found. Mention was also made that meetings such as the International Statistics Institute’s meeting in Sydney in March–April 2005, and the potential Paris21 meeting planned for the Pacific some time between 2004 & 2006, may be used to support an associated forum in which the NSO heads can come together to share ideas. In conclusion, the meeting agreed to maintain the current frequency of three years as the default timing for the full Heads of Statistics Meeting and review of SPC Statistics and Population and Demography Programmes, but to remain flexible regarding additional meetings for special topics. 12. The meeting had no objections to the reporting arrangements as proposed, so it was agreed to maintain the current practices. 13. Some discussion then took place on whether prioritisation of recommendations should take place for those without financial implications. Although some countries commented there would be some benefits associated with this, it was agreed it would be logistically too difficult to assign specific rankings to every individual recommendation and suggested that the non-financial recommendations could be split into two categories – short term and long term. It was agreed by the meeting to numerically prioritize only those recommendations which involved financial implications for SPC or donor agencies. 14. For the last issue raised, the meeting was in favour of developing a list of regional statistical priorities, which would be heavily driven by the countries, with support from the Programme. It was agreed that such a proposal should be easier to produce and revise with the numerous communication options available now, and could be based on the recommendations to come out of this STATS13 Meeting.
Agenda item 5 –PROGRESS REVIEW IN IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TWELFTH REGIONAL MEETING OF HEADS OF STATISTICS 15. The Statistician presented each of the recommendations from the Twelfth Regional Meeting of Heads of Statistics and noted the progress of each as follows: Recommendations with financial implications Recommendation No. 1The meeting recommended that the SPC facilitate training for middle/senior-level managers in NSOs to improve performance through increased effectiveness and efficiency of staff outputs. 16. Such a training activity took place within a year of the meeting in Fiji, involving countries from Polynesia and Melanesia. Although the funding for hosting future courses of this nature is difficult to locate, priority will be given to Micronesia if successful. Recommendation No. 2The meeting recommended that the SPC Statistics Programme continue to give high priority to liaising with NSOs to ensure the relevance of statistical training and to develop specialized training Programmes as appropriate. 17. The Statistics Programme has continued to send to NSOs towards the end of each year its Training and Consultancy Needs Questionnaires, giving NSOs the opportunity to nominate priority areas for assistance in the coming year. As a result existing courses have been modified, new courses developed and technical assistance provided where appropriate. Recommendation No. 3The meeting recommended that the SPC Executive support the use of funds earned by the Statistics Programme to supplement the Programme’s assistance to NSOs. 18. The SPC Executive has continued to allow the Programme to retain earnings from statistical consultancies, and these have been used exclusively to fund training and technical assistance activities that would otherwise not be possible. Recommendation No. 4The meeting recommended that the next Regional Meeting of Heads of Statistics be held in 2003. 19. This meeting is being held as planned. Recommendation No. 5The meeting recommended that the SPC host a technical meeting immediately preceding the 13th Regional Meeting of Heads of Statistics, with the aim of reviewing statistical development in the region since the 12th Meeting, particularly in the light of recommendations from the Technical Meeting on Economic Statistics in the Pacific, and with particular emphasis on the development and use of indicator series. 20. The meeting with the specifically recommended focus was not held due to difficulty in securing funding. However the PRISM technical meeting was held immediately prior to this meeting. Acknowledgement of the generosity of donors was made. Recommendation No. 6The meeting recommended that SPC give high priority to attendance at the annual meetings of SIAP and ESCAP in the interest of supporting country delegates from the region, particularly in promoting awareness of the training needs of the region. 21. The SPC Statistician has consistently attended the annual meetings of ESCAP and SIAP, although cost is becoming a cause for concern, especially when meetings are not held side by side. Recommendation No. 7The meeting recommended that the Demography/Population Programme produce a handbook to accompany the Model Census Form which would help countries to develop census questionnaires. 22. The SPC Demography/Population Programme produced and published such a handbook in 2002, which was subsequently distributed to all NSOs and international/regional technical agencies with a population focus Recommendation No. 8The meeting recommended the formation of a sub-committee to prepare a protocol for the safe storage of data sets at SPC, and to expedite the establishment of a safe storage facility. 23. The meeting noted that not much follow up has happened with respect to establishing a safe storage facility, as some countries opt to store data within country. However there are a number of datasets stored at SPC which are only able to be released with the approval of the country concerned. The issue is to be discussed in a later session. Recommendations without financial implications Recommendation No. 9The meeting recommended that NSOs continue to strengthen their co-ordination of national statistical systems including the use of standard classifications and frameworks. 24. Country statements note that standard classifications are given a high priority in statistical activities. SPC supports the use of standard classifications and makes these available on PRISM website. Feedback on the suitability of these classifications has been given to UNSD for their consideration. Recommendation No. 10The meeting recommended that SPC give a high priority to facilitating linkages between NSOs and international organizations, with particular emphasis on assisting with the development of classifications specific to the region, as appropriate. 25. The meeting was informed that following continued representations made by the SPC Statistics Programme to a range of international organisations, including UNSD in New York, the SPC Statistician received funding to present a paper entitled ‘Agriculture and fishing activities in the Pacific – the special classification needs of small island economies’ to the FAO Caesar conference in Rome in June 2001, and has maintained close contact with the Classifications Section of the UNSD. Recommendation No. 11The meeting recommended that the SPC Statistics Programme continue to provide short-term technical assistance on a consultancy basis where consistent with the responsibilities of the Programme. 26. The Programme has undertaken many consultancies since the last meeting, all of them aimed at improving the statistical capacity of NSOs in the region. These included a variety of ADB-funded consultancies which have led to improvements in FSM, Cook Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu and PNG. UNDP and UNESCO have also engaged Programme staff to undertake household survey projects in Cook Islands and Niue. Recommendation No. 12 The meeting recommended that the SPC compile a list of Pacific Islanders with expertise in specific fields of statistical development. 27. In direct response to this recommendation a register of Pacific Islander experts was created on the SPC Statistics website and publicized through messages on PacStats. Recommendation No. 13The meeting recommended that the SPC Statistics Programme continue to produce the SPESS publication, with an emphasis on improved coverage and timeliness of key data items. reviewed in conjunction with Recommendation No. 14 The meeting recommended that NSOs assist the SPC Statistics Programme in improving the coverage and timeliness of the SPESS publication, including associated data stored on the SPC Internet website, by responding on a timely basis to relevant data requests from the Statistics Programme. 28. The Programme continued to maintain the SPESS database, but timeliness of data is still a problem. The SPESS publication has largely been overtaken by the PRISM project. Recommendation No. 15 The meeting recommended that the Statistics Programme actively pursue funding for the continuation of the SRO position after the end of the current NZODA funding. 29. NZODA provided funding for two SRO terms soon after the meeting. There is optimism that NZAID will continue funding for this position after the next term for which funding has been secured. Recommendation No. 16The meeting recommended that the SPC Statistics Programme ensure that the functions of the newly created SRO position be structured to ensure the professional development of the occupants. 30. The SRO position has been significantly restructured and is strongly oriented towards the professional development of the occupant. Recommendation No. 17The meeting recommended that NSOs become more actively involved in population data analysis and receive the support of the Demography/Population Programme to produce their own country profiles and other population reports. 31. There have been eight countries which received significant support for this activity. In two instances, Fiji and PNG have successfully provided data processing assistance to Tuvalu and Samoa respectively. Recommendation No. 18The meeting recommended that the SPC Demography/Population Programme continue to assist countries and territories to make greater use of user-friendly media, including leaflets, posters and population atlases, to communicate population information. 32. The Programme maintains a population database which collects 17 key indicators and is regularly updated. The information is disseminated via posters and a website. Recommendation No. 19The meeting recommended that IATF CDB be reduced to key socioeconomic indicators, and that it be linked with other information systems including the database maintained by the SPC Statistics Programme. 33. A core set of indicators have been developed for PRISM which involved extensive contact with agencies involved with regional data collection and dissemination. Discussion on the IATF CDB was deferred until the UNFPA presentation on Thursday. Recommendation No. 20The meeting recommended that SPC in co-operation with relevant agencies assist NSOs to improve access to and use of administrative records. 34. The Programme through its work with the Statistician under the ADB RETA-6009 project has been effectively promoting the better use of administrative records in six PICTs, especially tax and customs data. The Programme has also begun looking at ways of helping NSOs to better use administrative data in the measurement of the MDG indicators. Recommendation No. 21The meeting recommended that NSOs take account of recommendations from the August 2000 Technical Meeting on Economic Statistics when planning any development of economic statistics, with particular emphasis on improving the relevance, quality and sustainability of statistical systems. 35. The recommendations have been taken into account in at least six countries through the ADB RETA-6009 project, and are apparent in others from developments listed in the country statements. Recommendation No. 22The meeting recommended that the SPC defer attempts to secure funding for a “regional database” as proposed at the 11th Meeting. 36. Following the STATS12 meeting and this particular recommendation, the Programme did cease to actively pursue funding for a regional database project. However, DFID came forward to provide funding for PRISM and the opportunity was taken up. Recommendation No. 23The meeting recommended that SPC work with NSOs and relevant international organisations in developing a core set of data items which NSOs would endorse as a minimum target for data dissemination. 37. A set of “core” indicators has been defined in the PRISM project, working closely with NSOs and taking into account a range of international standards such as the MDGs and the GDDS. Recommendation No. 24The meeting recommended that the SPC Statistics Programme further develop the PacStats facility, particularly as a forum for the exchange of information between NSOs, including the development of regional classifications and definitions. 38. PacStats has been actively maintained, PacPRISM developed, and both continue to be an effective medium for sharing a wide range of information throughout the region’s statistical network. Recommendation No. 25The meeting recommended that NSOs aim to strengthen their Internet presence, particularly in terms of disseminating key national data. reviewed in conjunction with Recommendation No. 26 The meeting recommended that the SPC work with NSOs and relevant international organisations in assessing the suitability and potential benefits to NSOs of an integrated regional approach to developing NSO websites. 39. The meeting agreed that the development of PRISM had clearly met both of these recommendations. 40. In summarising, the Statistician proposed to the meeting that major achievements had been reached over the last three years which clearly satisfied the major recommendations of the last meeting. 41. In response, meeting delegates indicated that they were very satisfied with the performance of the Statistics and Demography Programmes in carrying out the recommendations of the last meeting. Agenda item 6 – STATISTICS WORK PROGRAMME REVIEW (2000–2003) (a) On-going activities42. The Statistics Advisor/Trainer presented Working Paper 3 which outlined the key statistical activities undertaken over the previous three years by the Programme. The major issues presented were: (i) AusAID has increased its direct funding support to the Programme by funding both Statistical Advisor/Trainer positions. This funding has been supplemented by the ADB and Taiwan/ROC; (ii) The Programme continues to use the Annual Training needs questionnaires to determine its activities for the following year in line with NSOs’ needs and priorities; (iii) Significant developments in improving existing training materials and developing new training programmes have taken place over the last three years; (iv) Three SOAP courses, six Data Analysis & Report Writing courses and eleven Specialised Training courses were conducted over the last three years; (v) Evaluation of training courses some four to six months after the course is still causing problems for the Programme, with responses from NSOs still significantly down; (vi) There were six training attachments and more than twenty technical assistances carried out by the Programme since the last meeting, covering a wide range of countries; and (vii) The information services carried out by the Programme have been dramatically changed due to the introduction of PRISM, with a proposal under consideration to produce the SPESS less frequently. 43. The Solomon Islands questioned why they had been overlooked over the last three years with respect to both training and technical assistance. The SPC Statistician informed the Solomon Islands delegate that due to infrastructure problems within the office (including no computers), it had been considered that any skills transfer or systems development would not have been sustainable; as such it had not been appropriate to provide support at this stage. However the Programme was keen to be involved in future work with the office as it re-establishes itself. The Statistician also noted that the Statistics Programme was on record with a standing offer of in-country technical assistance for any major survey activity in the Solomon Islands. 44. Statistics New Zealand inquired as to whether the Programme used reports produced from PFTAC as a guide to develop its work Programme. While recognising that such reports were very useful, the SPC Statistician replied that the NSOs were the primary contact point for the Programme, and as they had access to such reports the NSOs could inform the Programme if they wished to take up recommendations in such reports. 45. Clarification was sought on what sort of changes were made to core training materials. It was reported that changes were based on feedback from NSOs so that the courses better met the individual needs of each country, particularly in terms of using live national data for examples used during the training. 46. It was asked how the Programme balanced its activities with respect to training and technical assistances, to which the Statistician reported that it was based largely on the priorities expressed by the countries themselves, particularly through the Programme’s annual questionnaires. 47. Some discussion also centred around how the Programme can best meet the training needs of the NSOs given the involvement of other organisations undertaking similar activities. The Statistician pointed out that there was significantly improved communication between SPC and other regional and international organizations, but further improvements could still be made. 48. Finally, some discussion took place about continuing the production of the SPESS publication. It was put to the meeting that the developments associated with PRISM were quickly making the information in the SPESS less relevant and timely. The proposal was put forward to drop the production of the SPESS publication. One delegate suggested that publications were important for international organisations, and the Statistician responded that international organisations had expressed a strong desire for electronic access to information for the region, not least because it is more up to date. It was also reported that hard copies of the current SPESS tables would always be available on request from the PRISM database. PRISM project 49. The PRISM project manager presented Working paper 4 which covered the activities of the PRISM project. The main activities presented included: (a) training activities with three sub regional training workshops for NSO webmasters in Internet website design; (b) technical assistance activities to assist NSOs to publish and update Internet websites; (c) progress made to date by NSOs in publishing and updating Internet websites; (d) progress made to date on the development of the SPC PRISM regional database; (e) the activities of the PRISM Steering Committee for project monitoring and evaluation; (f) other activities including assisting with the SPC’s MDG workshop in Vanuatu. 50. The PRISM project manager also informed the meeting that the Regional Technical Meeting to Review the Progress of the PRISM project had been conducted for two days prior to this Meeting, and the main outcomes are published separately along with information about the PRISM project. (c) The Statistical Research Officer (SRO) position51.
The SRO presented a paper outlining his personal aims, expectations, and
activities performed in the SRO role. He raised two areas that he considered
should be addressed in the position – namely a facility to publish research
papers, and 52. Discussion followed with the chair expressing the view that no doubt the outgoing SRO’s skills will be used for benefit of the region. Samoa commented that the SRO’s paper provided useful information for other NSOs. Tonga raised the issue of other countries holding the position. It was explained that the Statistics Programme provides all countries with an equal chance to apply, and appointment is based on merit as well as the potential for the SRO’s term to benefit his or her home NSO on return. Nauru raised the issue of the level of recognition for the position. The SPC Statistician explained that the position will provide significant long term benefits in the region, and that this had been an important part of NZAID’s decision to fund the position. PNG commented that it was important to encourage staff who held the SRO position to stay in NSOs and share the knowledge gained. The SPC Population Specialist raised the issue of whether population training should be part of the SRO position, highlighting that the Programme has a training Programme of its own which provides shorter training attachments at SPC. The SPC Statistician informed the Meeting that the SRO’s work program was and would be determined by their individual skills as well as the needs of their home NSO. The National Statistician of PNG noted the importance to his office of the economic statistics work which had been undertaken during the current term, and closed by suggesting that the primary focus should be on the needs of the SRO’s home country. The meeting recommended that the Statistics Programme encourage agencies to access the “Register of PIC experts” on the SPC Website when looking for experts to work in the region (d) ADB project on economic statistics 53. The SPC Statistician presented his work on the ADB funded project on “Capacity building and regional cooperation for economic statistics in selected Pacific Developing Member Countries (PDMCs)”. It was informed that the project arose to a large extent from discussions at the “Technical Meeting on Economic Statistics” in 2000, where it was agreed that there was a strong need for improved sustainability in the development of economic statistical systems. 54. The Statistician informed the meeting that the project had around $US 500,000 funding and was restricted to six countries, who were chosen based on the likelihood of achieving sustainable improvements from short term assistance. 55. As a result of this TA, the Statistician informed the meeting that the following key accomplishments had been achieved: (a) In-country technical assistances, involving five countries (b) A two week sub-regional workshop in Nadi (c) Two training attachments, one of them using additional funding from ROC/Taiwan (d) An inter-office attachment between Fiji and Tonga (e) In-country training in PNG to develop their computing capacity (f) Future equipment (PCs) for each of the six countries involved 56. Following the Statistician’s presentation, Niue inquired as to how smaller NSOs can receive similar sorts of assistance. It was responded that in view of the relatively limited financial resources countries were chosen based on the likelihood of achieving significant improvement with relatively small input. Nauru also raised the question on how the balance of assistance can be maintained, given the ADB selection of larger and more advanced countries. Once again the Statistician responded that the focus in the selection process was placed on the potential for improvement, particularly in terms of accessing administrative data to supplement existing systems, and that the list of countries presented earlier covered large countries such as PNG and Fiji, as well as very much smaller countries like the Cook Islands. The Cook Islands added that the assistance they have received from the TA has made their national accounts system far more robust. Agenda Item 7 – REVIEW OF COUNTRY STATISTICAL DEVELOPMENTS 2000–2003, AND COUNTRY PRIORITIES 57. The Secretariat presented Information Paper 1 which provided a summary of the twelve country paper summaries received by the Secretariat prior to the meeting. These country paper summaries generally concentrated on the current activities of the NSOs and likely future direction of the office. 58. Each of the seventeen delegates from member countries and territories then presented their country papers which provided further detail on individual country and territory activities and their plans for the future. The major points to come out of these presentations included the following: (a) many countries and territories are improving the quality and timeliness of their statistical outputs; (b) many countries and territories have produced an increased range of both economic and social statistics compared to three years ago; (c) some countries have had a decreased reliance on external assistance for the collection and analysis of population census and socio-economic data; (d) there is an ongoing need for human resources development, in particular technical skills in survey design, data processing and analysis. (e) some NSOs have established committees to co-ordinate statistical activities in their country or territory. (f) many countries are making progress with their computing facilities, but still require technical assistance and training in computing skills. (g) some countries were not aware of the MDG data requirements and expressed concern about the lack of consultation about the requirements for monitoring these. Agenda Item 8 –DEMOGRAPHY/POPULATION WORK PROGRAMME REVIEW (2000–2003) (a) On-going Activities 59.
The SPC Demographer introduced work (i)various forms of technical assistance/training provided in past 3 years related to 2000 round of censuses, with 8 countries and territories receiving such assistance covering some or all aspects of census activities; (ii)various types of training provided to countries and territories, ranging from in-country technical collaboration on specific subject matters (e.g. demographic analysis; population projections), to Nouméa-based professional attachments working with program staff on particular thematic issues; (iii)facilitating third country technical assistance in arranging for Fiji and PNG national statistics office senior staff providing data processing support to Tuvalu and Samoa respectively (iv)considerable efforts made in area of improving access to population, social and socio-economic statistics, via the SPC population GIS project, which is the subject of another working paper (WP-8); and the (v)many activities undertaken with data/information dissemination. 60. He also emphasized that with the 2005 round of censuses just around the corner, countries and territories might wish to consider alerting the Programme early regarding the likely type of technical or other assistance they might require. 61. He also informed the meeting about the programmes intention to host a regional seminar for heads of national planning agencies in 2004. Representing the Programme’s second group of key stakeholders, it is planned for this meeting to have a thematic focus on identifying and mapping hardships (including poverty), which would provide a direct link to SPC’s corporate and the region’s political commitment to MDGs, the program’s population GIS activities, and its potential contribution to assist countries in their efforts to produce National poverty reduction strategies. 62. Delegates were invited to review these various Programme activities, outcomes and plans, and consider the following recommendations: (i) the Programme’s continued emphasis on census and demographic/health survey related technical assistance and training, including short-term professional attachments in Nouméa; (ii) the usefulness and duration of Nouméa-based professional attachments; (iii) country and territories undertaking mid-decade censuses (2005-2006) indication of likely resource requirements, particularly in light of comments made regarding recent difficulties in adequately resourcing all aspects and stages of a census operation; (iv) following countries and territories’ indication of priorities for 2003-2005, provide indication of which particular specialized training they wish the Population/Demography program to pursue; (v) reaffirm program’s approach to consultation with member countries and territories regarding inclusion of national/territorial data and statistics in program database and website; (vi) the program’s plan to convene a regional seminar for heads of planning agencies in 2004, with a likely focus on identifying and mapping social and economic hardships (including poverty), to assist more targeted policy development and planning; 63. Following this presentation, countries and territories commented as follows: Technical assistance 64. Samoa indicated that for the 2000 census, their questionnaire had undergone fairly significant design changes, and were grateful for the help SPC provided in aiding with inconsistencies in the questions asked. As a result, it was noted that the Samoan census questionnaire has been sent to Timor as an example of a country effectively assessing census questions on subsistence related employment. In regards to the next round of censuses, Samoa also suggested to SPC to enquire with the international donor community about the possibility of assistance with 2005 round of census activities – a sentiment also echoed by Fiji 65. Cook Islands indicated that census planning was their responsibility, and after many years of practice believed they no longer require assistance in this area, and that SPC should concentrate on assisting countries with demographic analyses and the production of population profiles. Training 66. Nauru enquired about the possibility of SPC assistance with data processing, such as CSPro. Tonga also proposed that training in CSPro be organised on a continual basis, as most of its IMPS-trained staff had left the department, and it wanted to be well prepared for their 2006 census. 67. The Demographer indicated that with 8 other countries already having requested assistance in this area, the program is considering running a regional data processing workshop next year, well in time for the next round of census activities in 2005–06. 68. Niue, Tonga and Nauru also indicated they wanted future assistance with producing population estimates, including projections. The SPC Demographer emphasized since this type of training had also already been requested by 4 other countries, this could also form the basis for a sub-regional/regional training course over the coming years. 69.
Samoa highlighted a further training need Short-term professional attachments 70. Samoa and Vanuatu commented on the usefulness of the Programme’s professional attachments, and expressed their appreciation for these attachments being linked to clearly define activities/outputs (e.g. preparation of population database, population profile; demographic analysis). They requested the SPC Demography/Population Programme to maintain this useful service. Database/information products 71. Tonga proposed for Demography and Statistics programmes to coordinate their database activities, so it would not have to post data onto PRISM and the Demography website. Countries also reaffirmed the Programme’s stated intention to clear key national population and development data and indicators, before they are published in the 2004 Pacific island population poster. Planned 2004 heads of planning seminar 72. Given the proposed theme/topic of next years regional seminar, and the objective to maintain a good and ongoing dialogue between statisticians and planners, particularly regarding MDGs, Vanuatu believes that it is vital that producers and users, as well as statisticians and planners should participate in the 2004 conference. This proposal was endorsed by Fiji.
(b) GIS Project 74. The Demographer introduced the most recent Programme initiative: to develop a population GIS prototype for PICTs that would contribute to a better understanding and greater utilisation of population and other socio-economic data and information for policy development and local area, provincial/state and national planning purposes. 75. The meeting chairman in his opening remarks highlighted the power of this tool, as being well in line with pacific people’s long tradition of conveying meaning and messages in images, referring to tattoos as a powerful means of traditional communication, and regarding population maps as a logical extension of this process. On behalf of SPC, and the Demography/Population Programme, the chairman thanked the DFID representative for the United Kingdom’s generosity in providing the necessary funding to develop four national population GIS prototypes. 76. Working paper 8 provided a concise overview of the policy and political context in which this project concept was developed. It followed on from a unanimous recommendation of the 2001 regional Heads of planning agencies’ meeting, to provide national planners with user-friendly and user-relevant data and information to allow them to carry out their functions of planning, developing good policies and programs. 77. Mindful of the substantive contributions planners and statisticians make to national policy development and planning, in providing the data and analysis that drives informed and evidence-based decision-making, the project was designed to serve both the producers and users of demographic, social and socio-economic data and information: to give the (i) producers of data the means to more effectively present their data and statistics, and add a tangible value to their products; and to provide (ii) users of this data and information with access to data, that are immediately relevant to their policy development and planning needs. 78.
The paper provided a summary of product development to date concerning
the four project countries (FSM, Kiribati, Samoa and Vanuatu), including
progress with professional training in-country, and in 79. The population GIS team then proceeded to provide the conference with a live demonstration of the system’s four national prototypes. Following a brief technical introduction highlighting the system’s true GIS functionalities, the population GIS team then provided a live demonstration, which illustrated the visualization and analytical power of a population GIS to (i) effectively illustrate spatial patterns, and to (ii) identify thematic/policy priority areas, which other agencies, like the World Bank, use so effectively in their poverty mapping activities. 80. To highlight the immediate link to important cross-sectoral SPC corporate objectives, such as SPC’s commitments to MDGs, the demonstration focused on primary school enrollment (Vanuatu) and access to safe (piped) water in Kiribati. It also illustrated some labor force indicators (% paid employment; male/female paid employment ratios) for Samoa, and household access to electricity in FSM, to showcase these countries’ national population GIS systems. 81. The meeting was invited to comment on several recommendations: (i) the usefulness of this program activity for national NSOs; (ii) the desirability to extend this service to other interested PICTs, which would require additional external funding once DFID assistance expires for the four project countries in March 2004; (iii)
the usefulness of the current approach involving country and territorial
statistics and planning agencies in all facets of product development, including
several stages of Comments from countries 82. Samoa congratulated the Programme’s GIS team for their great work thus far. He mentioned the intervention of the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, and his great interest in the GIS project's implementation, with the Samoa workshop having featured on national TV. He also issued a word of caution regarding the use of small area data. The SPC demographer reassured Samoa that final decision on what data are available at specific levels of geography will rest with the head of each national NSO. 83. Vanuatu and Kiribati, as two other current project countries, also congratulated the Programme for its work thus far, referring to the system’s embrace by statisticians and planners as a 'promising tool', and its perceived usefulness for national and sub-national planning. Similar comments of support were expressed by Nauru and Statistics New Zealand, regarding the population GIS as a fantastic and simple tool for policy analysts and planners, as well as for statisticians 84. PNG sought a clarification on the comparability/compatibility between his office’s GIS system with SPC population GIS system, and wanted to know more about its relative advantages. SPC demographer reiterated the population GIS’ user-friendliness and ease-of-use, which did not require the type of specialized GIS knowledge required to make use of fully-fledged GIS, such as the one currently available in PNG. 85. Fiji echoed sentiments expressed by previous speakers, and offered to collaborate with SPC in this area, through its own small GIS unit. 86. French Polynesia, referring to an almost ‘religious silence’ in the audience during the program presentation, enquired if SPC was able to extend this service and product to all three French territories. The Demographer replied that the Programme would most happily provide this assistance to the three French territories next year, and that it would also happily extend this assistance to nine other countries and territories, which already requested assistance with developing such national population GIS systems. He reiterated that to do so, would obviously require continued funding support for this SPC activity, beyond the current funding arrangements with DFID (March 2004), and that discussions are currently underway wit some donor agencies in this regard. 87. In summing up proceedings, the chairman and delegate of Wallis and Futon, expressed his delight with the project, and reiterated his territories’ commitment to participate alongside the other two French pacific territories. However, he also sought clarification from SPC, as to the future of the project following the end of DFID funding in March 2004. 88. In his reply, the Demographer reminded the conference of the SPC Director-General’s opening remark of SPC’s corporate commitment to both MDGs, and to her reference to PRISM and the population GIS as two corporate flagship operations. He also assured the conference about SPC’s corporate support to both activities, and that discussions are underway with interested donor agencies to seek continued support to both activities.
Agenda Item 9 – DEVINFO DEMONSTRATION BY UNICEF 89. Following the population GIS presentation, UNICEF was invited to provide a demonstration of DevINFO, a mapping software currently under development, and to be promoted by the United nations as their ‘corporate’ mapping software to assist countries with MDG reporting. 90. Building upon UNICEF’s experience with ChildInfo, a popular software to assist with data dissemination and advocacy activities, as well as provide planners with valuable insights into various aspects of health and social conditions associated with the well-being of children, DevINFO will focus on the United Nations 48 MDG indicators as its standard database, which, however can be expanded and modified by countries to include other information to suit their particular information needs. The software will be available for all UN member countries “cost-free” as from some time next year. 91. Some delegates (PNG, Samoa) expressed confusion regarding the potential duplication of activities with SPC’s population GIS project. The UNICEF representative explained that this should not be seen in this light, as DevINFO is primarily designed as a reporting tool for MDG indicators, and an information tool for a much broader audience (including schools, libraries, civil society), compared to the more specific focus of SPC’s population GIS as a decision-support tool targeting statisticians and planners. He emphasized the complementary nature of both systems. These sentiments were echoed by the SPC demographer. He proposed to engage in further bilateral discussions with UNICEF to ensure duplication does not take place, and to review the possibility for his Programme to actively promote DevINFO as an MDG reporting tool in the region, and to coordinate/provide DevINFO training in the region. Agenda item 10 – CSPRO DEMONSTRATION92. The Demography/Population Programme review of recent activities was completed by a live demonstration of CSPro, the Census Survey Processing System developed by the US Census Bureau. This was prompted by the request of several countries and territories for training in this software by SPC over the coming years. 93. With Mike Levin, one of the developers of this software from the US Census Bureau unable to attend due to other pressing work commitments, the delegate from Guam and SPC’s population specialist, two experienced CSPro users and trainers, kindly agreed to prepare a CSPro presentation to the conference, using a subset of 2002 Nauru census data to demonstrate the various features of this system. 94. Several countries commented on the various excellent features of the system, noting its highly effective data-entry/edit functionalities, the ease of undertaking cross-tabulations via drop-and-drag functions, its simple mapping and graphing features, and confirmed their interest in having some of their staff trained in this system (Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Nauru). However, in light of the considerable expenses involved in sending staff to the US for training, the Demography/Population Programme was asked to look at more cost-effective solutions, such as organizing such training on a regional/sub-regional basis. Agenda Item 11 – SAFE STORAGE OF NATIONAL DATASETS95. The SPC Statistics Adviser/Trainer presented working paper 9 on a regional strategy to ensure the security of micro-data from official statistical censuses and surveys. 96 The paper outlined a four point strategy to promote and improve the understanding of data security policies and procedures by NSOs; to investigate technology options to enhance and integrate the security of statistical data holdings; to recommend effective disaster recovery procedures for information technology; and to facilitate access to regional services and organisations that provide data storage facilities. 97. During the discussion a number of delegates expressed general support for the proposal to develop a regional strategy for security of statistical data holdings, including support for the establishment of a data storage facility at SPC. 98. A delegate raised the issue of whether there was a need for a regional strategy given that PRISM and PopGIS systems already provided an archive facility and the resources required to develop and implement such a strategy. SPC replied that the strategy was aimed at increasing the capability of NSOs to establish data security procedures to prevent loss of micro-data within their own computing systems. 99. A delegate asked how to determine which micro-data to store in a backup facility. SPC replied that it was up to countries to determine what data would be stored within country and whether they wished to store data at SPC. 100. During discussion a delegate requested technical assistance to develop their data security procedures and asked that SPC provide this. SPC replied that it is available to provide such assistance as part of its technical assistance responsibilities and would welcome a request for assistance. 101. The meeting agreed that the strategy recommended by the SPC be adopted. Agenda item 12 – What are the MDGs: an overview (Information Paper 4) 102. Dr Geoff Hayes from UNFPA presented Information Paper 4 on an overview of MDGs. He stated that good co-operation had been taking place between UN organisations and the SPC Statistics Programme with respect to MDGs. He stressed the point that MDG reporting is not intended to burden NSOs with new reporting requirements or data gathering tasks, but is intended to simplify and clarify the process of reporting at the global level. 103. Dr Hayes stated that there may be a number of misperceptions about the need to use a specific software product for reporting on MDGs. Although DevInfo has been accepted by the UN for collecting MDGs, no countries are required to use a particular type of software. The choice of the mode of reporting MDGs is up to each country. 104. Dr Hayes reported that the Millenium Declaration took place in Sep 2000 and was signed by 189 countries, including PICs. They consist of 8 goals, 18 targets and 48 indicators, with the main characteristics being: (a) Limited in number (b) Focus on poverty reduction (c) Provide a basis for national & international partnership (d) Stable over time (e) Clear Numerical Targets (f) Easy to communicate 105. Dr Hayes went through some of the indicators, which covered poverty with respect to income and food, and education, and noted that the MDG targets concentrate on rates of change rather than absolute values. He stated that the UN was prepared to assist countries with the collection of MDGs in numerous forms, which would involve good co-ordination between other organisations. 106. UNDP is the main coordinating agency for MDG reports at the national level. UN Resident Coordinator has funds available to assist countries in MDG reporting. UN assistance on data issues is coordinated by UN IATF, which consults with PFTAC and SPC. This assistance is based on the principles of close collaboration, involving national poverty reduction strategies and aimed at improving national ownership and developing sub-national indicators. 107. Dr Hayes reported that Country Action Plans for the MDGs were prepared at a meeting in Nadi in March 2003; the importance of the MDGs was subsequently endorsed at FEMM and the relevance of them to the Pacific region was noted at the Pacific Forum. Finally he stated that MDGs are important because they are an internationally agreed upon framework which all donor agencies support, and that they provide a focus for national development and planning. While the MDG indicators are developed primarily for global reporting Dr Hayes encouraged PICTs to report on them as they are very useful for national development purposes. 108. He also stressed that the requirements for MDGs can be used as a basis for requesting assistance from international agencies, such as the UN, governments and other sources, and provide a good basis for leveraging resources from donors. 109. PNG reported that the NSO had been kept in the dark with regards to the development of MDGs, and disagreed that there would not be a penalty if they did not co-operate with the plan to collect them. PNG finished by stating that SPC should be heavily involved in the process to collect them through PRISM. Dr Hayes agreed that NSOs should have had more involvement, but reassured the meeting that a great deal of support would be provided to countries and the workload should be minimal. 110. Fiji reported that he was unaware of UN people coming to his office to collect information, but figures from his country were still being produced in UN Human Development Reports. Dr Hayes agreed that this was a widespread problem and that hopefully with the development of PRISM this problem will be significantly reduced. Agenda item 13 – MDGs: Implications for NSOs in the region (Information Paper 5) 111. The SPC Statistician presented Information Paper 5 which addressed “MDGs: Implications for NSOs in the region”. He informed the meeting that the Statistics Programme first became involved in MDGs when asked to write a paper for an MDG summit in Nadi in March, 2003. He also stated that it quickly became apparent that NSOs were not aware of MDGs nor the requirement that they be reported upon. 112. The Statistician informed the meeting that the burden of MDGs is due to the commitment to them by their governments, not externally. He also stated that the SPC Statistics Programme is trying to promote the needs of NSOs in an MDG context by: (a) working with other organisations to get the needs of NSOs recognised (eg, FEMM 2003) (b) SPC-sponsored project to trial assistance to Vanuatu in measuring MDG indicators (c) using STATS13 to bring NSOs and donors together in an MDG context 113. Finally the Statistician suggested a MDG strategy for NSOs which included: (a) NSOs to take the lead nationally in determining which agency has prime responsibility for producing official estimates of each component of the MDG indicators; (b) detailed national assessment of current capacity to produce reliable and regular estimates of those components; (c) Determine which if any of the recommended indicators cannot be produced by 2015, or which need to be adapted to meet national needs; (d) Develop an integrated national action plan that would enable the (adapted) list of indicators to be produced effectively to a realistic timetable – including a detailed assessment of additional resources and/or changes to existing priorities needed to achieve the production of those indicators; and (e) In consultation with national planning and financing agencies, determine if that action plan is both feasible and appropriate for national priorities. 114.
Samoa reported that they were not aware of any NSO mandate to produce
statistical information for MDGs. As a result there is a reluctance to commit
the NSO of Samoa to support the MDG reporting without further consultation.
Samoa would like to see SPC involvement with the production of 115. Tonga reported that they were not convinced that the process of collecting MDGs was as simple as indicated, although they were prepared to assist planners to undertake the process. Tonga reported that it was not clear as to how they would report on some MDGs which were not already available, but stated that their office was happy to work with other departments to meet the requirements. 116. Cook Islands reported they were prepared to undertake the process of meeting MDG requirements as it would help to raise the profile of their office, and assist with future funding. She stated she would like to see SPC play a more significant role in informing NSOs of the activities taking place amongst other organisations which impact on them. 117. Niue reported they were grateful for the information about MDGs as it was foreign ground. They stated that MDGs were not part of the next 3 year work plan and that would now have to change. He stated that some of the definitions of MDGs would be quite different for his country, and this was of concern. 118. New Caledonia stated the intention to do its utmost to incorporate the MDG indicators in their work. However statistics from New Caledonia are often not included in international reports, such as the Human Development Index report, but noted that ESCAP regularly acknowledged New Caledonia. SPC has a role in ensuring that statistics from the region are included in international reports. 119. The Statistician responded to some of the points by stating that although the NSOs would not have charge of the process of collecting MDGs they could play a lead role in the process. He pointed out that if one country needed to run an additional survey then others would be likely to do so as well, so good regional interaction was required. On the issue of defining some of the MDGs (eg, poverty and unemployment) the Statistician agreed that it would be difficult but might be incorporated as a research topic for the next SRO in the Programme. Agenda item 14 – POVERTY IN THE PACIFIC CONTEXT (Working Paper 10) 120. The SPC Statistician presented Working Paper 10 on “Poverty in the Pacific context”. He stated that there is intense interest throughout the world in trying to reduce poverty, and cited as an example the very first MDG being to “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger”. 121. In the presentation, some reports from international organisations addressing the issue of poverty were discussed. These included: (a) ESCAP/UNDP: The review uses the scheme and data sources from numerous international organisations, as well as some national sources, including MDG country reports. (b) European Commission: Poverty being addressed under the broad headings of Governance, Food Security, Trade, Social Services, Environment and Transport systems. Five PICs were included in the report (c) UNCTAD: Poverty was defined as the inability to achieve minimally adequate levels of consumption (d) ADB “Participatory Hardship Assessment” series – recently released for Vanuatu. This report asked for the population to describe poverty and some of the results were presented. 122. The Statistician added that the range of MDGs lends support to the argument that there are various measurable dimensions of poverty other than income based (eg, issues relating to access to basic education, health, access to land, etc). 123. The next issue addressed was how much of an issue “Poverty” was for the Pacific, through a report written by the ADB. In particular, it was mentioned that the issue of poverty becomes more relevant to the Pacific when issues such as standard of education and the remoteness of world economy are addressed. The report raised the issue of subsistence affluence and the role it plays in the Pacific, but expressed the view that this factor is sometimes overstated. 124. A summary of some measures of “Poverty” in the Pacific were then discussed which included: (a) Per capita income and “poverty lines” (PPP basis) (b) “poverty lines” based on national accounts data (c) Human Poverty Index rating (d) “multi dimensional” (analogous to an index) (e) self-assessment by the people (f) some analyses bring in national “vulnerability” 125. The Statistician then addressed the issue of what Pacific Island Statisticians should be doing in regard to measuring “poverty”. The following approach was suggested as one way to tackle the issue: (a) Poverty is an emotive concept so it is important to not produce any measure which is not generally agreed upon by the immediate community (b) Take a “multidimensional” approach to “poverty” (c) Use the focus on poverty to improve measurement and dissemination of all the indicators, including through better HIESs, more accurate valuation of subsistence production, improving social and environmental statistics, and better integrated national systems (d) All of the component measures are valuable/vital national (and sub-national) indicators – improving national planning (e) Consider leaving the calculation of poverty indexes, poverty lines and associated measures to the planners and the analysts 126. In closing the Statistician commented that NSOs need more resources to improve their statistical capacity, and it was important to note that there is an opportunity to use the international interest in Poverty to gain funding support for statistical development and strengthening of national statistical systems. 127 Samoa stated that NSOs are involved in the collection of surveys such as a HIES, then after the event a task force determines an appropriate poverty line. He stated that the Statistician should not be involved in the process of defining the poverty line, this should be left up to the planners. ESCAP then suggested that statisticians should not remain apart from the process, but be fully involved in order to lend their expertise to the process. 128. PNG noted that many Pacific Island countries are moving towards conducting a HIES in the next 2 to 3 years and this was a good opportunity for collecting information which can help measure some poverty indicators. He stated that it is important that statistical reports produced by external agencies should be endorsed by national statisticians. He concluded that each country should be able to produce their own definition of poverty, and that external organisations should not push their own definition on to NSOs. 129. Niue stated that they would like to see a regional approach to poverty measurement with a more uniform definition to be produced for the region, and agreed with Samoa that NSOs should be involved with measuring the component indicators but not lead the process of defining measures such as a national poverty line. 130. Fiji acknowledged the support of ADB for their HIES and stated that some poverty analysis was being undertaken by a consultant for the urban component of the survey. He stated there was a concern that the poverty line applied was well above the average salary for Fiji. He also agreed that the NSO should not be involved in the definition of poverty. 131. Nauru supported the idea of each country defining poverty separately, rather than applying a regional definition. However increased collaboration between the countries and the resulting interaction would assist the process of defining and measuring poverty. 132. Cook Islands stated that the word ‘Poverty’ was not helpful for statisticians as it was not widely understood by government and there was a need for community acceptance of the term. For example, they received some funding to conduct a survey which collected information to measure poverty, but when it came to producing a report the Government was reluctant to release it as they believed poverty did not exist. She also stated that it would be good to have a uniform definition for the Pacific Island countries so comparisons could be made. 133. ESCAP agreed that NSOs should not be involved in defining poverty, however it is important that they are present during discussions on how it will be defined as it has implications on the collection procedures for the surveys NSOs take responsibility for. ESCAP also stated that NSOs are the agencies most knowledgeable as to how robust their data is, and should inform users of the data quality. Agenda item 15 – Measuring the MDGs: Case study for Vanuatu (Working Paper 11) 134. The SPC Statistician presented Working Paper 11, which looked at a case study for Vanuatu in measuring MDGs. Vanuatu was chosen for the case study because of work done by Vanuatu for PRISM indicators, scope for Mr Vuti to help in advance preparations, and the proximity to Nouméa and hence the cost of travel. 135. The meeting was informed that there were three distinct phases for the project: (a) presentation of the project outline and aims to key national agencies (b) intensive agency meetings, leading to the compilation of as many MDG indicators as possible (c) presentation of the major findings and recommendations to a meeting of key stakeholders 136. The key outcomes from the workshop were presented as: (a) Strong support for the project and MDGs, particularly for national and sub-national planning purposes (b) Widespread support for a national statistical stakeholders group (c) Very considerable enthusiasm for moves to improve access to and better analysis of sub-national data (d) A clear sense of the need for national ownership of key indicators, and recognition of this by external agencies (e) A significantly increased awareness among participants of the nature and the aims of the MDGs, and the need for a similar increase throughout the community (f) Strong support for the project as outlined, and a sense of expectation for the review session at the end of the week 137. The Statistician informed the meeting that as a direct result of the project: (a) 13 MDG indicators for Vanuatu were revised significantly, (b) data was collected for five other indicators which were then derived for the first time; (c) it was recommended that one indicator be expanded for national purposes to include both rural and urban areas. 138. Discounting the seven MDG indicators which are not relevant to Vanuatu, the country now has at least some estimates for 37 of the remaining 41 MDG indicators. 139. Finally the Statistician reported that many of the estimates for Vanuatu are now based on national data and show Vanuatu national agencies as the source. He stated there now is an increased national capacity to update the indicators. He also suggested that increased national ownership and awareness will reduce the problem of differing numbers from different sources and that the indicators will be disseminated though PRISM. 140. Vanuatu stated that the work done with this project will be used as a starting point for their country in the collection of MDGs and appreciated the assistance of SPC. 141. Niue reported that they would appreciate similar assistance in their own country. 142. The delegate from the UN Statistics Division (UNSD) asked the meeting to consider how their office could best obtain the MDG information relating to MDGs, to which the SPC Statistician responded that PRISM was working towards the ideal solution by providing an integrated set of official national data. 143. Australia asked for an example as to what revisions took place to MDGs during the project. The Statistician prefaced his response by noting that actual data could not be used until the Vanuatu Government approved the results, but gave as an example the $1 a day poverty indicator, where the income used to assess households against the poverty line was increased very significantly from a previous estimate due to some more detailed analysis of purchasing power relativities.
Agenda item 16 – Using the MDGs for national planning: a GIS case study (Working Paper 12) WP.12: Population/Demography Work Programme Review (2000–2003) 144. Using the MDGs for national planning: The contribution of a national population GIS (Paper presented by the Secretariat) 145. The paper provided a brief overview of the Demography/Population Programme’s contribution to SPC’s recent multi-program mission to Vanuatu, to assist Vanuatu with its MDG reporting. 146. Discussing the various key functions of, and challenges facing planners across the region, the paper underlined the relevance of the MDG framework for planning and policy development, in providing broad coverage of key social and economic development features, that impact on manifestations (and perceptions) of hardship or disadvantage, including poverty; and facilitating a (comparative) assessment of hardship and disadvantage within and across sectors. 147. Highlighting the usefulness of this framework for data capture, storage and dissemination, the paper suggested that the relevance of this framework for planning and policy development need yet to be established. 148. As with most frameworks, usefulness and relevance increase, when basic ground rules are met, such as that: · MDG indicator(s) are compatible with national development priorities (rationale: ‘local relevance’/tangible benefit help increase acceptance). · key MDG indicators are available at sub-national level (rationale: benefits of development, of lack thereof, are not distributed equally geographically); · Reliable and timely population statistics are essential to calculate national/sub-national MDG indicators (rationale: no population data -> no denominators = no indicators) 149. While advocating the need for sub-national data and indicators, the paper also advised some caution against a wholesale sub-national disaggregation of every MDG indicator. 150. Indicators that are unsuitable for sub-national disaggregations are those that refer to either very small incidence or prevalence rates (e.g. infant and maternal mortality; HIV prevalence), or that are population based, in the context of only very small national populations. 151. The meeting was invited to comment on: · the usefulness of providing key population-based MDG indicators at sub-national levels, which are meaningful to PICT administrative geographies (such as provinces or administrative regions); · the usefulness of providing key population-based MDG indicators at, at least rural-urban levels for all PICTs (where such a geographic distinction is meaningful); · the usefulness of national population GIS, to assist member countries and territories in targeting geographic priority areas, to assist their efforts in achieving their MDG targets.
Agenda item 17 – ROLE OF PRISM IN DISSEMINATING NATIONAL DATA (Working Paper 13) 152. The PRISM developer presented working paper 13 which addressed the role of PRISM in disseminating National data. The project manager separated the PRISM team’s activities with respect to this goal into the following activities: (a) Statistical Indicators – developed in consultation with NSOs, regional and international agencies. The indicators are split into core (NSOs generally capable of producing now) and non-core (will generally require training/TA to produce) and include all relevant MDGs. (b) The storage of MetaData – covers standards, documentation and classifications, and can be utilized as an archiving tool as well as an information sharing opportunity between NSOs. (c) Stakeholder Groups – involves incorporating wider national statistical systems in the provision of core indicators (d) NSO websites at SPC – all NSO websites are hosted or imported to the SPC PRISM website. Currently there are seven published (soon to be ten). (e) SPC database – this will form a central point for official statistics in the region (f) MDG indicators – these are included in the project as an SPC corporate commitment. (g) National priorities for statistical indicators – NSOs are encouraged to include ‘national’ indicators for development and planning policies and priorities. 153. ESCAP commended progress with the PRISM project, but questioned the degree of comparability of the data for various countries given the different collection methodologies and definitions. The SPC Statistician mentioned that SPC was aware of this problem, and that PRISM would attempt to overcome problems with comparability through the storage of metadata – including through links to metadata on the GDDS website wherever relevant - that would inform users how items were collected and how they are defined. 154. The Cook Islands stated that PRISM was an excellent mechanism for disseminating data and recommended that the meeting should strongly endorse the project. Samoa stated that PRISM had already been endorsed by the NSOs, and was fully operational. Agenda item 18: Draft proposal to establish a “Poverty Fund” for the Pacific (Working Paper 14) 155. Working Paper 14 was presented by representatives from the ADB and NZAID. They started by stating the background behind the “Poverty Fund” which commenced in June 2002 with a regional donors meeting. This was followed by a feasibility study in October 2002, and presented at an MDG conference in Fiji. 156. Further information about the feasibility study was provided, where it was stated that one of the main focuses was to improve co-ordination and harmonization amongst donors. 157. The representatives stated that another of the objectives of the fund was to improve co-ordination of poverty analyses and activities in the region. They also stated that the aims of the project included strengthening the demand for statistics and capacity building. 158. Some activities of the fund were then presented which included: (a) Country specific review of available data and assessment of data and capacity needs (b) Support to strengthen/improve quality of surveys and analyses (c) Capacity building in poverty analyses (d) Promote links between national planning and data collection (e) Support in commitment to monitoring MDGs (f) Participatory Poverty Assessments (g) Support for data maintenance and dissemination (h) Training in pro-poor budgeting techniques 159. The representatives then raised the issue of where the project was best located and SPC was raised as a possibility. They also raised other questions such as the involvement of other agencies, whether a technical advisory committee should be involved, and whether a governing board was required. 160. The announcement was then made that US$1 million has been committed by DFID and ADB, and that the project would be considered further at a regional harmonization workshop which would be conducted in October 2003. 161. In closing the representatives attempted to clarify any misconceptions by stating that the fund was not simply “just another program” in the Pacific, was much wider than just an ADB initiative, and that consultation was on-going 162. PNG asked for clarification on whether $1m had been committed by ADB and DFID and if there is any potential for future funding. He also stated that the funding should be controlled by SPC, and not ADB. The ADB responded that the $1M was only the initial amount, and it is hoped that future funding will be provided by other donors. She also stated that other donors would be keen to get involved. 163. Samoa noted that the $1M would need to be shared amongst numerous countries. He sought clarification on how the funds would be used with respect to statistical work. The ADB stated that the ADB funds would only be available to ADB countries and that would occur based on country needs. She also pointed out that the project was still in the planning stages, but countries can help to determine where the priorities should lie. 164. Niue asked how they could become involved in the project given they were not an ADB member. The ADB responded that hopefully other funders would join the project and so it could cover countries which were not ADB members. NZAID added that this was very much a multi donor proposal so all countries will have an opportunity for receiving funds. 165. Nauru asked how donors could determine the needs of countries. The SPC Statistician stated that it has been suggested that the SPC could play a lead role in how the funds could be used, and used their existing regional network to assess needs as has been done in the past. He also stated that if the project were to be successful initially then it was increasingly likely that it would attract more donor support in future. 166. NZAID stated that the main impetus for this project was that there was recognition that there was not enough co-ordination amongst donor organisations with these sorts of activities. She stated that this project would be good for the NSOs because it would be a ‘one stop shop’ rather than NSOs having to go to multiple donors for their funds. 167. Samoa agreed strongly that SPC should be involved in how the funds could best be utilised – they can use there Needs Questionnaires to determine priorities as at present. Tonga supported the idea of SPC being involved in determining the needs because they already have the necessary information available, and were thus clearly best equipped to handle these responsibilities. 168. The question was raised by Nauru as to whether NSOs are in the best position to be making the bids for the funds, and suggested perhaps more involvement of planning agencies. The SPC Statistician responded that at the Nadi meeting in March 2003 this project was put to the meeting - which included many planners - and the response had been for the project to be considered further at STATS13. NZAID re-iterated that NSOs were only one group of stakeholders, but their views were a key part of the overall design process. 169. Tonga stated that this project may be a good opportunity to determine whether poverty is the right term for the Pacific. She also inquired as to the nature and composition of the ‘harmonization workshop’. ADB responded that it will be organised by the Forum Secretariat and will discuss how various organizations can better co-ordinate their activities to lower the administrative burden on donor countries. 170. Their was a general discussion about what to call poverty in the Pacific, and various suggestions were put forward by the meeting including needy, hardship and human development. Agenda item 19 – FRAMEWORK FOR ECONOMIC VALUATION OF CULTURE IN THE PACIFIC (Working Paper 15) 171. The SPC Cultural Affairs adviser introduced the proposal for a Framework for Economic Valuation of Culture in the Pacific. The SPC Cultural Affairs Programme is tasked with putting a value on culture. She acknowledged that poverty and wealth exists in different forms, including culture. In presenting this paper she wished to obtain feedback on the proposal and asked the meeting for guidance. 172. Robert Philpott, a consultant to the SPC Cultural Affairs Programme, presented the proposal to the meeting. He prefaced the proposal by stating that it was the first stage of a long term project which was aimed at developing a tool for measuring cultural value which would be useful for the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). The framework attempted to measure both the tangible and intangible expressions of culture and therefore was very complex. 173. The project objectives are to develop a regional framework which should comprise regional guidelines/policies, key definitions and model classification system for cultural statistics collection in the Pacific Islands; enable the valuation, assessment and advocacy of direct and indirect economic impacts and effects of tangible and intangibles expressions of culture in the Pacific Islands; and be consistent with international classification systems. 174. The key tasks of the proposal are to examine and assess existing classification systems for adequacy as measurement tools of expression of culture in PICTs; to recommend regional policies/guidelines to define what is to be valued and how to value expressions of culture; to highlight current problems and foreseeable trends in cultural needs and aspirations and available resources and facilities; and to draft a standard Pacific Island system for classification of culture in the Pacific Region consistent with applicable international classification systems. 175. The consultant proposed to conduct a survey of stakeholders to discuss potential cultural indicators; establish if any work has been down to develop indicators in cultural or related fields; identify stakeholders holdings of data which could support development of the framework; determine accessibility/availability of this data; and establish the level of commitment to continuing data collection. 176. The consultant advised that NSOs are key stakeholders in the process and asked the meeting to provide positive input into the consultative phase of the project; specifically commenting on the definition, classification, data collection, timeliness, availability and evaluation of the proposal. 177. In discussing the proposal, the delegate from New Caledonia stated that a similar survey has been carried in New Caledonia, but the report was not yet published. He warned that it has proven difficult to measure the economic impact of culture and wished the project well in this regard. 178. Cook Islands delegate reported that there may be some duplication and overlap between tourism and cultural values which need to be taken into account in the measurement of economic value of culture. 179. The AusAID representative stated that the cultural side of the economy is often ignored and it is very important to measure the contribution culture makes to the countries economies. 180. Solomon Islands agreed that cultural statistics are very important, but recognised that it is very difficult to measure cultural activities because of the inadequacies of standard international classifications. 181. The consultant acknowledged that it is indeed a very difficult task, but also is a challenge. The model is not perfect and that is why the input of NSOs will assist in improving it.
Agenda Item 20 – STATISTICAL ACTIVITIES OF OTHER AGENCIES Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre (PFTAC) – Mr Philip Turnbull (IP.6) 182. PFTAC pointed out its links to IMF, and that it is a multi-donor funded organisation with a steering committee from a wide range of PICs and donors. PFTAC was the IMF’s first such initiative, and is now paralleled by similar bodies in the Carribrean and Africa. PFTAC’s work has three main streams: Hands-on TAs 183. These tend to be working with a single agency on a specific topic eg, BOP with the Reserve Bank. Mr Turnbull noted that this component included placement of training attachments in host country offices, and that PFTAC would be funding additional attachments within the SNZ annual program. Regional initiatives 184. PFTAC has produced a “stocktake” publication, has put a range of NSO legislation on its website, and co-ordinates its activities with other agencies. PFTAC hosted a regional GDDS workshop in 2002, and has been working with USP investigating the possibility of an academic programme for staff of NSOs. Strategic reviews 185. PFTAC has undertaken this activity in a number of countries, using the GDDS framework to develop long-term action plans as part of the Regional GDDS project. This promotes the use of the IMF’s GDDS throughout the region, but noted that countries can depart from IMF recommendations but are encouraged to note differences through the metadata stored on the IMF’s GDDS website. Eight PICs have signed up to GDDS, and three others are showing interest, with Samoa possibly in the process of joining. Official metadata is being updated progressively, and three countries which have nearly finalised their metadata have received follow up TAs. Mr Turnbull encouraged other countries to finalise their metadata so that funds could be mobilised to provide TAs. Review of GDDS 186. The IMF board reviewed GDDS activities in July 2003, and encouraged the regional approach. The GDDS’s social and demographic indicators are to be expanded and will include most MDGs, but environmental and some other indicators will remain outside GDDS. Mr Turnbull again noted that countries can set their own priorities. 187. The GDDS Pacific project has been extended for two years, and a follow-up GDDS seminar is scheduled for November 2004. 188. Mr Turnbull offered some farewell personal views, looking ahead to countries having their own well-defined set of core statistics whose regular publication took priority over other activities in the NSO, leading to a much higher profile for NSOs, better conditions, and higher retention rates for NSO staff. Mr Turnbull also looked to a time when there is no further need for long term expatriate advisors, moving instead to short-term assistances, preferably from experts from within the region. 189. Mr Turnbull suggested that there will always be a need for support such as SPC Statistics and the PFTAC Statistics Advisor, and noted with pleasure that many of the views he had expressed had already been voiced by delegates during the meeting. 190. Expressions of appreciation were voiced by Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu. Solomon Islands expressed disappointment that a training attachment had been awarded to an officer outside the NSO. New Caledonia asked if the IMF manuals had been translated into French, Mr Turnbull replied that they had. In response to Nauru, Mr Turnbull pointed out that PFTAC was a multi-country organisation, but assistance was necessarily directed towards countries who had signed up to GDDS. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP, Ms Lene Mikkelsen) 191. Ms Mikkelsen thanked SPC for inviting ESCAP to the Meeting, and said that ESCAP appreciated the extent to which SPC shared information about statistical activities in the region with them. 192. Ms Mikkelsen presented an overview of the effects of the restructured ESCAP, including SIAP, and their increased focus on MDGs including poverty. ESCAP tends to organise its activities on a sub-regional basis, and has three main themes: poverty reduction; managing globalization; and social policy issues. Statistics in ESCAP is now within the general poverty reduction framework of ESCAP, but has retained national capacity building as its main focus due to strong country support. ESCAP Statistics’ strategy through to 2005 is to strengthen NSOs in a variety of ways, with strong emphasis on the better measurement of poverty related measures. 193. The Programme has 11 professional staff and 14 support staff. 60% of the resources go to technical activities which rely heavily on extra-budgetary support. Ms Mikkelsen cited the modalities of capacity building (as per the supporting document from ESCAP), highlighting their advisory services and noting that the previous role of regional advisor on national accounts has been replaced by two advisors, one on economic statistics and one on poverty. Ms Mikkelsen noted that advisory missions are usually only one or two weeks at most, but also noted the funding pressures on this activity. Lene presented the summary of ESCAP and SIAP activities which had involved PICs since STATS12, and outlined the structure of SIAP’s training program in Tokyo as well as the move towards more outreach activity ie, conducting training in country for sub-regions instead of in Tokyo. Ms Mikkelsen noted the development of joint ESCAP/SIAP training for statistics managers. 194. ESCAP has been reviewed, and as a result there will be an increased focus on poverty, the outreach Programme will be strengthened with additional courses, and specific regional courses will be developed for the Pacific. 195. ESCAP endorsed SPC as the natural partner for all regional activities, including some non-statistical ones. 196. Ms Mikkelsen summarised ESCAP’s recent activities in relation to the MDGs, particularly the work of their Poverty Centre, and listed their priorities for the period 2003–2005. 197. Fiji noted that there was no regional representative on the ESCAP statistics sub-committee, and Ms Mikkelsen responded that the up-coming sub-committee meetings for poverty reduction (2003) and statistics (2004) were the first such meetings since the restructure, and all ESCAP members were invited, although at their own expense. Australia expressed its readiness to get involved – resources permitting – with ESCAP and SPC on the development of additional training for the Pacific Islands. In a short discussion on the range of training Ms Mikkelsen noted that there were some limitations on SIAP through some local staff being restricted to Tokyo-based activities. Cook Islands pointed out that NSOs seldom had funds for travel so Pacific representation would always be low, but noted that long-term advance warning of major meetings might enable NSOs to submit funding proposals. Tonga noted that ESCAP was very Asia-centric, and that SIAP training materials had a very strong Asian orientation, and noted the risk that the poverty work of ESCAP would be Asia-focused and so be inappropriate for the Pacific. Tonga asked ESCAP to note SPC’s role as the Pacific’s organisation, and to involve them fully in all statistical activities. 198. The Meeting recommended that SPC convey to ESCAP and SIAP the wish of regional heads of NSOs that they fully involve SPC in any statistical activities in the region] Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO, Dr Fred Baker, Bangkok) 199. Dr Baker gave a run-down on FAO’s charter and operations, detailing the activities of relevance to the region. He listed the types and nature of technical assistance activities FAO undertakes, including the links with other organisations, stressing the country-driven nature of their activities, and explained the funding mechanisms for FAO’s activities. He stressed the importance of analysing and disseminating data, noting the difficulty in attracting high-level support for statistical activities in many countries. 200.
Dr Baker explained the operations of the Asia-Pacific Committee on
Agriculture Statistics (APCAS) and that Fiji was the only PIC represented on
APCAS. He highlighted FAO’s work in developing regional workshops, and raised
the issue of combining population censuses with agriculture censuses. Dr Baker
pointed out the link between FAO activities in food and agricultural statistics
and the MDG indicator 201. He raised the possibility of a Pacific regional meeting sponsored by FAO in 2004, and that there would be considerable consultation with the region to ensure the most appropriate timing. Dr Baker promoted the use of standards, and noted that although FAO databases aimed to draw on national data many of the items for the Pacific were estimated by FAO because they were not available. 202. Dr Baker explained the structure of the up-coming Pacific workshop, to be held in Nadi in November 2003 and limited to the 14 PICs who are FAO members, and including representatives from NSOs as well as from agriculture ministries. 203. Samoa did not think that they would be able to combine their population census with an agriculture census at this stage, and as part of his reply Fred reiterated that FAO could not provide funds, only technical assistance. Vanuatu raised the issue of problems with integrating the two types of census, and PNG mentioned the difficulties that can arise when the agricultural ministry has responsibility for agriculture statistics. United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA, Dr Geoff Hayes, Suva) 204. Dr Hayes opened with an overview of the history of UNFPA and the scale of its operations, and the shift in focus in the early 1990s to reproductive health, and their concentration on data processing and analysis rather than basic data collection. He noted that all PICs other than Fiji Islands and PNG relied on UNFPA for their contraceptive supplies, and the significant impact this had on the UNFPA budget for other activities. However, UNFPA has a continuing interest in supporting censuses, and wanted to remind countries of this so that countries would continue to request support where needed. 205. Dr Hayes outlined the UNFPA Programme for 2003–2007, including the major priority assigned to countries in crisis. UNFPA promotes national self-sufficiency, particularly in basic field operations, aiming to concentrate on the analysis and dissemination of data. He presented the main outcomes from a Regional Strategy Meeting in Nadi in March 2002, where most of the participants came from the agencies with responsibility for reproductive health. Those outcomes led to the targeted outputs for UNFPA in the next five years, including commitment to the MDGs and the various aspects of poverty, and he outlined the major challenges UNFPA will face in trying to achieve those outputs. 206. Dr Hayes outlined the operations of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Development Indicators (IATF) which is designed to resolve the problem of different agencies having and using different data. This previously attempted to resolve the problem by developing a common database, but is now adopting an approach of using more communication and focusing on the MDGs, coordinating data activities within the UN bodies in the region and building partnerships with countries and other agencies. 207. Dr Hayes noted the IATF’s desire to follow-ups from the Nadi MDG workshop in March 2003, as well as assisting countries with measuring MDGs in a variety of ways, possibly including the approach used by SPC in Vanuatu. 208. In closing, Dr Hayes raised again the issue of the term “poverty” and the negative reactions to it. He suggested that the meeting should attempt to further clarify a collective approach to defining poverty lest the outside world apply its own definitions because the Pacific had not done so. He highlighted the dual economy nature of the Pacific: customary on one hand, and marketed exchange on the other, and the need to consider both aspects in any analysis of poverty. He proposed the establishment of a working group to review the measurement of socio-economic hardship in the region, and to make recommendations in this area, ideally leading to a regional meeting for which UN funding might be forthcoming. 209. Samoa strongly supported the establishment of such a committee, reporting to the previously discussed meeting of planners and statisticians planned in 2004. Tonga supported the idea of trying to develop a regional concept of poverty, but suggested that heads of NSOs should discuss this issue – and other related ones such as unemployment – with their national planners before coming together to discuss this issue as soon as possible. Cook Islands responded to Dr Hayes’ point about declining requests to UNFPA for assistance, and suggested that SPC could be the focal point for such requests, liaising between countries and UNFPA in the same way that it does for other activities. ESCAP supported the idea of developing a regional definition, and encouraged any activity that would produce a collective view that could be presented to the ESCAP statistics meeting in early 2004. 210. Geoff stated the funding capacity of UNFPA, and that they would be funding SPC to carry out activities requested by countries wherever possible. 211. Samoa suggested that the meeting establish a formal committee to review this issue, and to establish its terms of reference before the meeting breaks up. This was supported by Vanuatu and CNMI; PNG preferred a more informal approach and cautioned about the cost implications of another committee. He also supported SPC’s participation at ESCAP to present the results of informal consultations on the measurement of poverty. 212. UNFPA noted the interest in poverty and the funding that was available for related work, and suggested that any proposal to form such a committee should not be deterred by funding considerations. Fiji then voiced strong support for the formation of such a committee. 213. In closing, the Chairperson noted that there was clear support for such a committee, and suggested that delegates consider among themselves how such a committee should be comprised, and discussion would resume in the afternoon. 214. The Meeting recommended: that a committee be established with the composition as outlined in this report to review the issues of poverty and unemployment in the region, and that SPC liaise with donors to seek funding for the activities of the committee. EuroStat (Mr Jurgen Heimann, Luxembourg) 215. Mr Heimann introduced his organisation, noting that Eurostat’s statistical activities are mandated by national legislation. He mentioned that their mission refers to statistical activities rather than just statistics, in order to cover data analysis activities. 216. He presented their six corporate objectives, and the work Programme for community statistics in the period 2003–2007 with its focus on: economic and monetary union; enlargement of the EU; competitiveness, sustainable development and social agenda – this mix was giving greater emphasis than previously on social statistics, including poverty. 217. In the statistical development cooperation domain Eurostat has a complex set of partnerships, leading to an internal structure based on different areas and types of partnership. He showed the key areas of interest for Eurostat, traditionally on economic statistics but now moving somewhat towards social statistics including poverty, and regional workshops and specialised task teams in support of the general PARIS21 initiative. 218. He gave a detailed presentation of Eurostat’s activities, products and assistance. He closed by mentioning the mechanism of funding a regional statistics activitiesy under a wider regional assistance programs. He , noted that many of those funds had already been committed to specific areas. However, an identification process is underway that may enable statistics to be included under the heading of economic integration – this process will be done through PIFS as the regional coordinating body for EU funding. 219. French Polynesia queried the method for seeking funds, and Mr Heimann confirmed that in the case of the Pacific regional program proposals will be dealt with PIFS for input to the EU funding identification process, noting that statistics were included under the heading of economic integration. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, Mr Jim Barratt, Canberra) 220. Mr Barratt introduced the nature of technical assistance provided by the ABS to the Pacific, noting that they tend to focus more on Asia while SNZ concentrates more on the Pacific, a strategy which has been developed in consultation with SNZ and SPC, but ABS still gives high priority to assisting PICs. The ABS see SPC as having the lead role in coordinating statistical activities in the Pacific, particularly to ensure that activities used an approach that was appropriate to the Pacific. 221. He noted the ABS preference for a strategic approach to assistance, and in this regard noted the frameworks provided by PRISM and GDDS, and the long term institutional strengthening project in Vanuatu, . He also mentioned the early stages of a project to establish an ABS staff training institute that might ultimately be used to train PICT statisticians. 222. Jim noted that the ABS’ overriding aim in providing assistance is to help countries to help themselves – it does not undertake statistical work for other countries. the ABS provides technical assistance in response to direct requests from countries and agencies – it does not respond to public calls for tender processes, and generally seeks reimbursement for activity-related costs as it does not receive any budget supplementation for providing aid to other countries. 223. Vanuatu, Fiji and PNG thanked ABS for their support over the years, and ESCAP thanked ABS for providing resource persons to ESCAP activities. Statistics New Zealand (SNZ, Mr Keith Sykes, Auckland) 224. Mr Sykes opened by noting the extent of consultation between SNZ, ABS and SPC and noted PFTAC’s contribution to widening coordination in the region through its GDDS initiative. He highlighted the training attachments offered each year, noting that the Programme had now been expanded from two to four each year thanks to supplementary funding from PFTAC. He also noted that ABS had offered to host any overflow of applicants. 225. Mr Sykes then moved on to PC/Trade, giving some of its background and noting that a new that has some functionality that will make it suitable for small Customs purposes had been developed with PFTAC funding. Also, NZAID has very recently confirmed increased funding for the next three years for the PC/Trade HelpDesk facility, a very good initiative for those countries relying on PC/Trade. 226. He mentioned the work done in SNZ on profiling Pacific Islands people living in NZ, and had disseminated this through the Pacific Islands Report with encouragement from SPC. 227. In closing he noted SNZ’s commitment to helping to ensure the coordination and effectiveness of statistical activities in the Pacific. 228. Vanuatu then thanked SNZ for the assistance they had received, and this was echoed by Samoa and Fiji Islands. 229. Tonga thanked SNZ and all other agencies present, and formally recommended that NSOs endorse GDDS as an important planning and dissemination tool for their use. 230. Niue thanked SNZ and expressed the hope that Niue and SNZ would continue their relationship for many years. 231. Cook Islands noted that the activities of SNZ were a good example of statistical co-ordination in the region, with so many agencies having been involved in different aspects of their assistance. 232. Nauru also thanked SNZ for their help in providing and supporting PC/Trade, and mentioned the support given jointly by SPC and SNZ in previous years; he thanked all agencies who had supported Nauru since 2000, including AusAID and SPC Statistics and Demography/Population Programmes and emphasised the importance of continued collaboration and cooperation as an important theme. Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS, Ms Emma Ferguson, Suva) 233. Ms Ferguson introduced herself, noting that statistical activities fell within her responsibilities at PIFS although PIFS was a policy rather than a technical assistance agency with its activities guided by the decisions made at meetings of leaders of the member countries. 234. Ms Ferguson noted that FEMM 2003 supported statistical development, particularly as improved national and regional information builds political commitment and draws development partners’ attention to areas needing assistance. FEMM 2003 reiterated the recognition of the need to strengthen NSOs, particularly for the purposes of improved national planning. Ministers endorsed the need for co-ordination of statistical activities in the region, and requested that donor agencies ensure that projects which carried a statistical burden should have the necessary funding built into the project. 235. Ministers at FEMM supported the MDGs, but stressed the importance of making them relevant for national purposes. Ministers supported efforts to measure the MDG indicators, and indicated that they would be seeking regular progress updates towards the MDGs. 236. Ms Ferguson mentioned the PIFS Regional Trade and Investment Database, currently hosted at SPC. She encouraged delegates to send regular updates of their trade data to PIFS in order to ensure that the database was as useful as it should be. 237. Ms Fergusoncautioned delegates against getting too enthusiastic about the immediate prospect of EU funding, as noted previously it involved a long process. United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD, Mr Robert Johnston, New York) 238. Mr Johnston presented an overview of the UNSD activities, outlining its global role in gathering and disseminating statistics across the full range, and mentioned the extent to which electronic transfer of data had led to substantial improvements in productivity, reflected in the much shorter lags between data being sent off by countries and it being accessible in summary reports. He pointed out that the UNSD is the de facto secretariat of the UN Statistical Commission which sets international standards and directions for statistical development. His Branch of UNSD has responsibility for the MDG indicators, and he noted that the global interest in MDGs, poverty in particular, is generating much greater leverage for securing funding. Final discussions for the day 239. It was agreed that the next meeting be held in Nouméain 2006, and the Samoa delegate suggested that a special meeting to monitor progress on measuring MDGs and poverty be held prior to STATS14. It was suggested that these topics were appropriate for a technical meeting. 241. The Meeting recommended that the next meeting be held in Nouméain 2006, and be preceded by a technical meeting to review the progress in measuring the MDGs, with particular emphasis on work to develop a regional approach to the measurement of poverty and unemployment. 242. Ms Mikkelsen suggested that ESCAP would very much support a regional meeting related to MDGs in 2004, and undertook to approach donor agencies to support such an activity. There was discussion about such a meeting in 2004, and there was general support for holding such a meeting outside Nouméa if appropriate. 243. Samoa proposed that a committee to review the conceptualisation and measurement of poverty and unemployment in the Pacific be formed, and that it should comprise two representatives from each region – Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia - , the SPC Statistician and the Demographer, plus the Chairperson of the IATF in Suva. This was endorsed by PNG. 244 CNMI proposed that the Samoa delegate be the Chairperson of the committee. Mr Sefuiva Reupena Muagututi’a accepted this proposal which was endorsed by the meeting, and suggested that he hand pick the members. This proposal was endorsed by the Chairperson. Sefuiva then nominated the following members: · Polynesia: Wallis and Futuna · Melanesia: Fiji Islands, PNG · Micronesia: CNMI, Nauru 244. Vanuatu noted that the committee was unbalanced in terms of gender, and the meeting took note of this – Samoa then nominated Tonga as the other Polynesian representative, and it was agreed that Wallis and Futuna would also represent the Francophone members. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM STATS13 There was considerable discussion about how best to prioritise the various recommendations, including the distinction between “financial” and “non-financial” recommendations and how this distinction related to on-going activities of SPC Programmes. As part of this discussion, a number of recommendations proposed by the Secretariat on the basis of Meeting discussions were deleted on the grounds that they simply represented a continuation of existing SPC activities and priorities which had already been endorsed by the Meeting. The Meeting did not see the need to take the prioritisation process to the level of individual recommendations, preferring instead to group together a set of “highest priority” recommendations. As a result the main recommendations to come from the Meeting have been grouped into: - those with financial implications – highest;· - other recommendations with financial implications;· - recommendations without significant financial implications. STATS13 recommendations with financial implications - highest rating Recommendation 1 Recommendation 2 Recommendation 3 Recommendation 4 STATS13 recommendations with financial implications - other Recommendation 5 Recommendation 6 Recommendation 7 Recommendation 8 STATS13 recommendations without significant financial implications Recommendation 9 Recommendation 10 Recommendation 11 Recommendation 12 Recommendation 13 Recommendation 14 Recommendation 15 Recommendation 16 Recommendation 17 Recommendation 18 Recommendation 20 Recommendation 21 Recommendation 22 Recommendation 23 Recommendation 24 |
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