The 2006 African Statistics Day
National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS): Statistical Planning at the Service of Dynamic Development

The African Statistics Day (ASD) is a yearly advocacy tool aimed at raising awareness of the importance of Statistics in the economic and social development of Africa. Celebrated every year on the 18th of November, the event was initiated by a former Subsidiary Body of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the Joint African Conference of Planners, Statisticians, and Demographers. This body has been replaced by the Committee on Development Information (CODI), which perpetuated the celebration of the ASD.

The 2006 celebration is devoted to raising awareness on the importance of National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) as new benchmarks in statistical planning aimed at facilitating the development of statistics in a coordinated manner using modern management principles such as free flow of information and ideas, participation, teamwork, innovation, creativity, and initiative.

1. Africa’s Development Agenda

For the first time in history, in the 1990’s, a diverse range of players across the globe agreed on a common platform of priorities for addressing the many faces of extreme poverty, from hunger, joblessness, disease and lack of housing, to gender inequality and environmental decline. In this regard, African countries and development partners recognize the need for better statistics not only as a tool for evidence-based policy design and planning but also to better support policy implementation, monitor progress and evaluate outcomes and impacts of development initiatives such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs), and the New partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

2. The National Strategy for the Development of Statistics

The NSDS is a strategic plan that provides a framework for building the statistical capacity of a country to meet both current and future data needs by mainstreaming statistics within policy processes and national development programmes and strategies. This is in line with the commitment of African countries to the “results agenda”, which calls for a focus on performance and the achievement of outputs, outcomes and impact.

The results agenda emanated from the conference of Monterrey, Mexico in 2002 on “Financing for Development” and the conference of Marrakech, Morocco in 2004, on “Managing for Development Results”. The conference of Monterrey recognized that to be successful, development has to be country-driven, country-owned, and country-specific and that good results require good policies and institutions. The conference of Marrakech focused on the need to have clear and systematic measurement and reporting on achievement of outputs, outcomes, and the impact of development policies and programmes, using better statistics. This conference gave birth to the Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics (MAPS) which sets out a general agenda designed to improve data availability and use in support of poverty reduction within an agreed budget and a specified time frame. The MAPS recommended to each developing country to design a NSDS by the end of 2006, to provide strategic directions and appropriate mechanisms for guiding and accelerating the development of sustainable statistical capacity.

3. Stakeholders’ Roles in the Design and Implementation of National Strategies for the Development of Statistics

The design and implementation of the NSDS have to be participatory and nationally led and owned, with high-level political support. Heads of States and governments, lines ministers, private sector representatives, academics and researchers, the civil society, donors, international organizations, and the general public should take an active part in the entire process.

Development partners (multilateral and bilateral) are urged to reflect these processes in their assistance programmes and place their support to statistics within the context of the NSDS.

4. Celebrations of the 2006 ASD

This year’s ASD theme is timely as the year constitutes the deadline for the design of the NSDS as agreed upon by African countries.

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) wishes success to the activities undertaken to commemorate the African Statistics Day.