THIRD ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ADVISORY BOARD

ON STATISTICS IN AFRICA (ABSA 3)

(Addis Ababa, 13-14 June 2006)

OPENING STATEMENT

By

Mr. Emmanuel Nnadozie, Officer In Chargeof the Economic and Social Policy Division (ESPD), ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA (ECA)

Distinguished Members of the Advisory Board on Statistics in Africa,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to welcome you all once again to the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and to this third annual meeting of the Advisory Board on Statistics in Africa (ABSA).

I take this opportunity to give a special welcome to the new members of ABSA, who have joined us this year. This renewal of the membership is in line with the terms of reference of the Board and one of the recommendations of last year’s meeting.

For the benefit of the new members – the ABSA board is expected to:

• Advise the ECA on emerging issues relating to statistical development in Africa, as well as the direction and content of its work programme;

• Propose approaches, actions and means for mobilizing resources for the implementation of regional statistical programmes;

• Advise on the implementation of any strategy or framework recommended by the Committee on Development Information (CODI) for the development of statistics in Africa;

• Advise on the coordination of statistical activities at national, sub-regional and regional levels; and

• Promote and disseminate good practice in the area of statistical development to all stakeholders, including Member States and sub-regional organizations.

Distinguished Members of the Board,

Ladies and Gentlemen

This 3rd meeting of ABSA is timely for the revamping of statistical activities at ECA. In fact two important things occurred since our last meeting, which are likely to affect the state of the statistical function at ECA.

The first one, internal to the Commission’s overall strategic direction, is the ECA’s repositioning process launched by its new Executive Secretary. The Secretariat is in the process of repositioning itself in order to better serve the continent. In line with this process, the ECA is more than ever committed to take its leadership position in statistical capacity building in Africa.

At the last African Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, the Ministerial Statement supported the ECA Executive Secretary strategic orientation, including strengthening the Statistics function of the Commission.

This, I believe, is a firm response of the ECA’s management to your call, during our past meetings (ABSA, FASDEV and CODI) to overhaul the statistical function of the Commission.

The second important fact that is worth mentioning is the adoption of the Reference Regional Strategic Framework (RRSF) for statistical capacity building in Africa, during the last meeting of FASDEV, held here at the ECA in February 2006.

The main theme of this second Forum was the review and endorsement of the Reference Regional Strategic Framework for Statistical Capacity Building in Africa, as a guide for African statistical development for the next ten years. The forum has endorsed the RRSF and discussed current and planned statistical programmes to support and boost the RRSF as well as partners’ support to statistical capacity building in Africa.

The African statistical community is now equipped with a comprehensive framework to provide strategic directions and appropriate mechanisms for guiding and accelerating the development of a sustainable statistical capacity on the continent. The ECA, taking stock of the pitfalls of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for statistical development, has committed itself to the success of the entire process.

Distinguished Members of the Board,

Ladies and Gentlemen

Despite resource constraints, ESPD has achieved a respectable amount of work in statistical capacity building since the last meeting of the Board. As recommended by ABSA 2, in addition to our regular work programme, we have been very active, inter alia, in the production of the Reference Regional Strategic Framework (RRSF) for Statistical Capacity Building in Africa, the 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses, and the revision of the 1993 System of National Accounts (1993 SNA).

In line with the above, the Secretariat has prepared a series of documents for your attention including:

• A report on the follow-up to the second meeting of ABSA and FASDEV;

• A report on statistical activities at ECA in 2005-2006;

• A series of information notes on:

• The 2010 round of population and housing censuses;

• The Africa Symposia in Statistical Development in Africa;

• The friends of the ECA;

• The revision of the SNA 1993; and

• Development account projects.

• The theme for the 2006 African Statistics Day and potential activities for its celebration; and

• ECA repositioning in Statistics.

The Secretariat invites the Board to critically review these documents and advise on how to give statistical activities at ECA a real face-lift.

Before concluding my statement, allow me to acknowledge your commitment and continuous support to statistical capacity building in Africa via the recommendations you have provided to the ECA since the launching of ABSA in 2004.

I am looking forward to the outcomes of this meeting as inputs to statistical capacity building efforts on the continent.

I wish you a successful meeting.

Thank you.