When good-quality administrative systems are in place and their information is regularly updated, they can reliably provide a full picture of key aspects of a country’s population or economy on a continuous basis. Data collected for administrative purposes can be a rich and cost-efficient source for the production of timely and high-quality official statistics, especially to address the urgent need for disaggregated data on SDG indicators to ensure no one is left behind in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. However, many countries still lack the infrastructure and technical and institutional arrangements needed for the efficient exchange and processing of administrative data and metadata for the production of official statistics. Moving in a direction of increased use of administrative data for statistics production will also make the statistical system more agile and resilient in times of crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. The project supports 9 countries in addressing legal and technical challenges to administrative data sharing and processing administrative data. For each country one or two thematic areas are chosen. The results of the work will provide practical level experiences that also others can benefit from and will lead to a number of examples along the overall process of using administrative data for statistical purposes; from accessing data to processing them and publishing statistics based on them. Key stakeholders of this work will be the National Statistical Offices and the owners of the administrative data, along with the wider statistical system. Policy and decision makers will benefit from the results of the work.

he adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015 brought increased attention to the international community on the need to strengthen the statistical capacity of developing countries to measure, monitor and report on the sustainable development goals, targets and indicators.  Goal 17 specifically addresses strengthening the means of implementation, with target 17.18 calling for enhanced capacity building support to developing  countries to increase, by 2020, the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic locations and other characteristics relevant in national contexts. The global indicator framework for the monitoring of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, with currently over 230 indicators, represents a tremendous challenge for producers of official statistics in all countries, developing and developed alike.  Countries must absorb the new data demands which have been placed upon them if they are to meet the 2030 Agenda, including quickly defining national targets and indicators. They will need to update their National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) to respond to these demands, and to put into place streamlined processes to ensure the timely production of official statistics. They will need exposure to methodologies and tools being developed at global level to measure the sustainable development goals and targets, particularly in new statistical areas.  As such,  the development and strengthening of institutional and technical capacities in developing countries for the production of high-quality, timely, reliable and disaggregated data which responds to the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, and which can assist policy-makers in shaping evidence-based policies which fully integrate economic, social and environmental considerations, has become critical. The 2030 Agenda, which is centered on the achievement of the sustainable development goals, calls for enhanced efforts by the international community working together  to augment its capacity development efforts,  particularly in the domain of statistics and data,  so that developing member States will be able to accurately measure progress against the SDG targets and determine where gaps remain.  The repeated emphasis by member States on the importance of developing robust national statistical systems should not be overlooked.  Given this call for increased support, the Development Account Programme on Statistics and Data, hereinafter referred to as  “the Programme”,  strives to maximize its resources by working jointly with all 10 implementing entities which receive funding under the Account (DESA, UNCTAD, UNEP, UN-Habitat, UN-ODC and the 5 Regional Commissions – ECA, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP and ESCWA).  The Programme will also seek partnerships with agencies within and outside the UN system, with the donor community, academia, civil society and the private sector.  The emphasis of the Programme will be to refine existing methodologies, tools and approaches for Tier I and Tier II indicators and commence analysis which will inform the development of new statistical methodologies for Tier III indicators within the environmental, social and economic domains. It will also orchestrate the roll-out of a vigorous capacity development programme to support countries in improving statistical capacities to monitor indicators and targets in all data areas.  The Programme will work across all regions, and at the national and local levels, raising awareness within developing countries on the statistical data requirements to meet the 2030 Agenda; on strengthening of institutional environments to respond to the data demands; on streamlining of statistical production processes and exposing countries to the use of new and innovative data sources, including new tools and techniques.   The Programme will also, through its capacity development efforts, promote resource mobilization and new partnerships so that developing States have the right tools, mechanisms and technology to drive their production of official statistics.  

This project provided technical assistance to four least developed countries (LDCs), Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Lao PDR and Tanzania, on different aspects of their efforts to integrate the 2030 Agenda into national development plans and strategies. The work focused on areas that many countries have identified as a priority for technical assistance in their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs): policy coherence and inclusiveness (including aspects such as modeling, institutional arrangements and stakeholder engagement); financing of national development priorities; and data and monitoring.
The assistance was tailored to the specific needs and demands of each country. In addition to delivering the technical assistance itself, the project piloted an approach to DESA interdivisional work in close cooperation with the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) of each country.

The objective of this project is to strengthen the statistical capacity in China and other developing countries especially in the area of basic statistics. Within this overall objective, special attention will be given to the fields such as the organization of the national statistical system, application of modern technologies in statistical work and service to statistical users. Knowledge transfer will include sharing of experiences in South-South collaboration.The proposed expected accomplishments are (1) strengthened and optimized organization of national statistical systems and improved dissemination of data to policy makers and other users, and (2) increased capacity of the national statistical systems to produce better quality and more relevant statistical data for policy makers and other users especially in the areas of economic, environment and social statistics, thus improving data quality and credibility in a comprehensive manner.  In consideration of the statistical demand from China and other developing countries, priority will be given to a wide range of subject matter areas, including: big data, use of administrative records in statistics, application of modern technologies in statistical work, spatial analytics and information, research on innovation of statistical survey methods, statistics for services sector, environmental economic accounting, energy statistics, household surveys, enterprise innovation statistics, social statistics, gross fixed capital formation accounts, evaluation of resource utilization, well-being statistics, service to statistical users, and development and use of statistics, etc. 
 The implementation strategy to achieve the above expected accomplishments include: (i) international workshops; (ii) provision of materials on practices in implementation of latest international standards; (iii) technical advisory missions; (iv) exchange of staff among statistical offices; (v) sponsorship of short-term work or study in international organizations or other institutions; and (vi) study visits for officials to international seminars and conferences. The Statistics Division is currently implementing the second phase of this project. The first phase run from 2009 to 2014.

The objective of the project is to engage at national level with five strategic partners where biodiversity is at stake, so as to enhance their knowledge of valuation of ecosystems and their services. Building on an internationally-agreed methodology and EU-agreed methodology where relevant, and on the development of national competences, the project will initiate pilot testing in each country. The outputs are expected to influence policy-makers at national, regional and local level to take action in line with national environmental priorities, international commitments and EU priorities where relevant. In addition, the project will ensure awareness-raising for the private sector and the civil society.

The project helped to strengthen the capacity of selected developing countries in Africa and Asia to measure, monitor and report progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Post-2015 Development Agenda. The project activities will result in conducted national dialogues and meetings among and between policy makers, data producers/statisticians and other data users on SDGs/post-2015 monitoring; assessment of the statistical capacities for SDGs/post-2015 monitoring and reporting concluded by the project countries; identification, by the project countries key stakeholders, of the priority areas of statistics to be further developed, and conduct of an assessment of capacity gaps and needs; developement of an implementation plan (or roadmap) for the development of the statistical capacity required for SDG/post-2015 monitoring and reporting, detailing priorities, possible actions, resource and funding requirements as well as the establishement of national working and coordination mechanisms to implement the plan for measuring and reporting indicators of SDGs and post-2015 goals and targets.