UNECE Statistics

📢 Special theme of the Statistical Journal of the International Association for Official Statistics - IAOS co-edited by statisticians from United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and Office for National Statistics: 🎯 Assessing and understanding the value of official statistics 🎯 💬 “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that official statistics are uniquely valuable to society”. So begins the editorial by our Fiona Willis-Núñez and ONS’s Angela Potter, introducing the theme in this September’s issue of the SJIAOS. We official statisticians often take for granted that we produce something valuable to society. We invest time and effort in trying to quantify, prove and communicate this fact. But all too rarely do we reflect on whether it’s true. To do that, we have to explore what ‘value’ even means and ask what kind of value we hope to create. ✅ Do official statistics underpin democracy? Luca Di Gennaro Splendore, Ph.D begins to unpick this oft-repeated claim. 💟 What does it mean for official statistics to promote the public good? Sofi Nickson explains how the UK’s Office for Statistics Regulation is trying to find answers. 📜 What sort of value are national statistical offices trying to add and for whom, according to their official strategies and mission statements? Ken Roy takes us on an international tour. ➡ Can we shift the needle from ‘evidence-based decision-making’ to a more holistic and inclusive perspective? Arman Bidarbakht-Nia thinks we can, and should. Read the papers here: https://lnkd.in/dTHXhMeu Have more to add on this topic? Submit a paper of your own, and keep this crucial conversation alive! #ValueofOfficialStats #FPOS #cesUNECE

📅 Last week 53 experts from 25 countries and 12 organizations met in Geneva at our annual Expert Forum for Producers and Users of Climate Change-Related Statistics to exchange their experiences and share best practices! 🌠 The highlights of the meeting included: ◾ Showcasing strong institutional arrangements and whole-of-government approaches to improving climate change-related data by Canada, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Korea and PARIS21 ◾ Key role of energy statistics in informing climate change mitigation policies as seen in the Dutch National Plan Energy system and an upcoming International Energy Agency (IEA) guide to designing an energy statistics roadmap (to be published in September!) ◾ Brand new OECD - OCDE work on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) mapping methodology for climate change mitigation and mitigation-relevant policy and integrating GHG emissions inventories and accounts ◾ Innovative work on developing a monetary climate change mitigation account for the Dutch government sector and on measuring transformational change and institutional arrangements for climate finance reporting by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero of the United Kingdom ◾ Fantastic examples of how statistics can inform climate change adaptation - Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek ‘Climate Impact and Adaptation’ project, quantifying population exposure to natural hazards in France (CGDD - Commissariat général au développement durable), meteoclimatic indicators of Italian cities produced by Istat and progress on indicators of climate change impacts on health and opening of consultation process by the United Kingdom ◾ Great discussion on how statisticians can contribute to the UAE–Belém work programme on indicators for measuring progress achieved towards the targets under the UAE Framework for global climate resilience. 🔍 All papers and presentations are available on the meeting website: https://lnkd.in/dSHSK2KY 👏 Thank you to all attendees for the fruitful discussions, and a special thanks to our presenters, the session leads and Michele McMillan (Statistics Canada | Statistique Canada), the chair of the Steering Group on Climate Change-Related Statistics. See you next year on 1-3 September 2025 in Geneva – do you already know what topics we should discuss next? Let us know in the comments!

❓ Have you heard of MIPAA? 📝 The Madrid International Plan of Action of Ageing is the key international policy framework on population ageing.  United Nations member States adopted MIPAA in 2002, making a commitment to “respond to the opportunities and challenges of population ageing in the twenty-first century and to promote the development of a society for all ages": https://lnkd.in/eqEf4sw3. 🔼 Since the adoption of MIPAA, many countries have developed policies to improve the situation of older persons and made adjustments to pensions, health and long-term care, lifelong learning and labour markets in response to demographic shifts.     📈 To help member States measure the impact of these efforts and track progress towards MIPAA commitments, the UNECE Standing Working Group on Ageing has established a task force to develop a framework of quantitative indicators to monitor the implementation of MIPAA and its Regional Implementation Strategy.   🤝The group will bring together data producers and data users from Government, academia, and civil society to identify available data and relevant indicators for monitoring the impacts of population ageing in the UNECE region. The task force will also contribute to the in-depth review on ageing-related statistics being carried out by the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) this year.  📆 The work of the task force kicks off this month and will continue until autumn 2026. 📌To learn more or to express interest in participating in the task force please contact unece.ageing@un.org  #UNECE #PopulationUnit #CES #Ageing #AgeingStats #PopulationData 

INtegrating Geospatial and STatistical information (INGEST) is increasingly seen as one of the most valuable ways to enhance insights from data, to meet the measurement and monitoring needs of the SDGs and better understand the world. The European Union-funded INGEST project, created by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, was established to encourage greater integration by promoting stronger institutional partnerships and adoption of common standards. Led by our consultant Dr Sara Stewart, the project included expert meetings, surveys, a research project and the establishment of the INGEST Task Force. We’ve published the outcomes of this work today in two new issues of our Working Paper series: 🤷♀️ Working Paper 10: ‘Issues and obstacles to the greater integration of statistical and geospatial information across the UNECE region’ shares findings from research into the current situation, including a wide-ranging survey of stats offices and mapping agencies to find out their own practices and perspectives. 💡 Working Paper 11, ‘A path towards the use of common standards to support the INtegration of GEospatial and STatistical information’, draws on the previous findings and explores what could be done to solve some of the problems identified. Here’s what they recommend for countries: 🎯 Enhance cooperation and collaboration among networks and through official structures 🌐 Support development and adoption of standards 🗺 Develop national roadmaps for standards-based data integration 💻 Strengthen data and technology infrastructures and information management practices 📚 Identify skills gaps and upskill staff to support integration workflows across the data lifecycle. The international community can help, too, by supporting official structures, sustainable financing, enhanced communication and engagement to raise awareness, and promoting adoption of harmonized standards. Read the Working Papers on our website, at https://lnkd.in/dCQgmJ8c

📅 Register now to attend the UNECE Expert Forum for Producers and Users of Climate Change-related Statistics 2024 in Geneva on 29-30 August. https://lnkd.in/di9ZPtKh 🌍 Addressing climate change requires various data beyond measuring greenhouse gas emissions – from describing emission drivers, through tracking climate impacts and our vulnerability to them, to measuring mitigation and adaptation actions and their effects on the economy and society. The UNECE Expert Forum is a platform for producers and users of such statistics and data to collaborate, share ideas and experience, discuss concepts and measurement issues, and identify areas of future international work. 💡 This year, the Forum will discuss: ◾ Key international developments from the policy and statistical perspectives, including the key implications of COP28 and what can be expected from COP29OK ◾ Good practices in establishing sustainable institutional arrangements for producing relevant climate change-related statistics for policymaking and informing the public, unpacking in particular the role of NSOs and official statistics. ◾ Great examples of addressing data needs related to climate change adaptation and mitigation showcasing how high-quality data can help governments design evidence-based policies and monitor their success. 🔎 Find the detailed programme and all available meeting documents here: https://lnkd.in/dSHSK2KY

📢 2025 comprehensive review of the global SDG indicator framework – only two more weeks to contribute 🌍 The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. 📈 The policy agenda, consisting of 17 goals and 169 targets, is measured by a global framework of 231 indicators. These indicators interpret the goals and targets and, in practice, define what success in the 2030 agenda means. This makes the global indicator framework one of the most important tools for the success of the 2030 agenda and it is vital that the global statistical community ensures that the framework has the highest possible quality. 💡 As part of the 2025 comprehensive review, the Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG indicators (IAEG-SDGs) has curated 15 proposals to improve the indicators of 13 targets and seeks comments in a global open consultation by 15 August. The framework includes indicators across statistical domains and concerns the whole statistical community. 📅 Everyone, take the opportunity before 15 August to contribute to improving the global indicator framework! 🔗 Link to the global consultation: https://lnkd.in/epijv8PE 🔗 Check out UNECE’s work on SDG statistics here: https://lnkd.in/dpWSKbSN

🌍 The Seminar on Measurement of Well-being took place on 8 to 9 July 2024 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland! The Seminar brough together experts from various countries and organizations to share experiences and case studies on national and international well-being measurement frameworks. Highlights included:  ▪ Office for National Statistics of the UK discussed their Measuring National Well-being Programme, including a 2022-2023 review focusing on inequality, progress tracking, and comprehensive measures.  ▪ CSO (Central Statistics Office Ireland) presented the Well-being Information Hub and their approach to integrating sustainability into their framework.  ▪ Statistics Korea: Statistics Research Institute highlighted the development, results, and trends of their quality-of-life indicators. ▪ Statistics Netherlands (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek) introduced the “Monitor or Well-being” and discussed their collaborative approach to sustainable and inclusive well-being. ▪ Statistics Canada | Statistique Canada emphasized the need for timely, granular data and regular updates of social indicators to meet evolving policy needs.  ▪ The National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics in Morocco shared findings on regional social well-being convergence and the importance of national policies for social cohesion.  ▪ The International Labour Office focused on measuring unpaid care work and its implications for well-being. ▪ Eurostat discussed their quality-of-life framework and recent efforts in subjective well-being data collection.     ⚡ These insights are invaluable for our Task Force on Measurement of Well-being’s mission to develop impactful international well-being guidelines. The Task Force will incorporate the feedback and comments received from the seminar into the finalization of the Guidelines on Measurement of Well-being. 🙌 Thank you to all our speakers and participants for contributing to this enriching dialogue.   #UNECE #ECESD #WellBeingStatistics  #WellBeingMeasurement 

📢 The 72nd plenary session of the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) took place on 20-21 June 2024, with a joint day between CES and the Regional Committee of the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management for Europe (UN-GGIM: Europe). The meeting was attended by the heads and other high-level representatives of national statistical offices and national mapping, cadastral and land registration authorities of 50 countries. 🤝 Thank you to everyone who joined us in Geneva and contributed to the valuable discussions and making the meeting a success. A special thank you to all presenters, session chairs, Dominik Rozkrut, President of Statistics Poland, the new chair of the Conference of European Statisticians as well as the co-chairs of UN-GGIM: Europe - Frank Tierolff, Chairman of the Executive Board of Kadaster Netherlands, and David Henderson, Chief Geospatial Officer at UK Ordnance Survey. Here are some important resources for your follow-up: 📌 All documents and presentations are available on the UNECE website: https://lnkd.in/ehGMevtA ❗ See here the decisions adopted during the plenary session including strong support for continuing the collaboration with UN-GGIM: Europe and endorsement of new guidelines and outcomes of in-depth reviews: https://lnkd.in/e4sBnwQB 🎧 Listen to the audio recording of the full plenary session here (under Organization, search for ECE/CES): https://lnkd.in/dBaMQC3 #ECESD

💡 Just now, the 72nd Plenary Session of the Conference of European Statisticians came to an end. Today we discussed: 🔹 The UNECE Statistical Programmes for 2023 to 2026. 🔹The great importance of contributing by 13 September 2024 to the global consultation of the complete draft of the 2025 SNA available here: https://lnkd.in/e4G-3AMA 🔹There are still tremendous challenges that still need to be addressed for the implementation of the System of National Accounts 2025. A global implementation strategy and a roadmap, as well as further guidance, tools and training are needed. 🔹Tension between the use of national accounts for policy analysis and for administrative purposes continue to be an issue. A reliance on imputations and assumptions, that may be necessary to measure what’s important for policy analysis can become an issue when the numbers are used for administrative purposes. 🔹UNECE will continue to support the work on the 2025 SNA implementation. Leadership by the Steering Group on National Accounts and the CES Bureau in defining priorities. 🔹Continuing the work undertaken of the High-Level Group on the modernization of official statistics by its Ethics Task Team is vital to further shape the future of official statistics. 🔹The conference endorsed five documents on: 📈 The outcome of the in-depth review on timeliness, frequency and granularity of official statistics 👥 The outcome of the in-depth review on use cases for supplementary population bases 🌱 The guidance on the role of national statistical offices in achieving national climate objectives. ➖ Subjective poverty. 📦 New version of the Generic Statistical Information Model. ❗ Up next: Another exciting year for the world of official statistics. Thank you, everyone, for joining us in Geneva – we are looking forward to continuing to work alongside you! #ECESD

🌍 Today we kicked off the 72nd plenary session of UNECE’s Conference of European Statisticians #cesUNECE, with a joint plenary session alongside the Regional Committee of United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management for Europe (UN-GGIM: Europe). We discussed: 🔹 Integrating statistical and geospatial data: we need closer collaboration to maximize their impact for the post-2030 development agenda. 🔹Linking data across domains and sources: our HLG-MOS will develop a road map to integrate data linkage throughout official stats. 🔹Harnessing AI and ML in official stats and authoritative geospatial data: we must keep quality at the core as we grasp the new opportunities for efficiency and innovation. With the temptation to chase the ‘shiny things’, we must focus our efforts, under strong leadership, to make sure we’re increasing productivity in a way that leaves no-one behind, doesn’t scare staff or the public, and that really answers questions instead of merely being fun. We at UNECE Statistics were all excited to welcome so many of you today. We look forward to another productive day with you tomorrow! #ECESD