News 2023

Quality data are vital for enabling governments, international organizations, civil society, private sector and the general public to make informed decisions and to ensure the accountability of representative bodies. Effective planning, follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires the collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of an unprecedented amount of data and statistics at local, national, regional and global levels and by multiple stakeholders.

This 8-week course developed by SIAP in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) introduces machine learning as a tool for using either traditional (surveys, micro data, …) or non-traditional (big data) data sources to produce high quality predictions for Official Statistics or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators. It provides an opportunity for participants to explore and manipulate the techniques of Machine Learning and their links with traditional statistical methods.

The Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21) in collaboration with the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) developed a unique training course for NSS, NSO leaders and national planning senior managers to improve strategic planning for data and statisticsdevelopment, using innovative tools and methods. The course will give a thorough introduction to the NSDS design process and introduces the data gaps assessment and planning using ADAPT.

SDMX stands for Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange. It is an ISO standard designed to describe statistical data and metadata, normalize their exchange, and improve their efficient sharing across statistical and similar organizations. SDMX provides an integrated approach to facilitating statistical data and metadata exchange, enabling interoperable implementations within and between systems concerned with the exchange, reporting and dissemination of statistical data and their related meta-information.

The causes and consequences of informal employment and employment in informal sector and their impact on achieving sustainable development continues to gain attention in national development agendas. The evidence in developing and emerging economies shows that on average more than half of the employment in non-agricultural sectors are informal and this rate can reach as high as 80% in some countries. Therefore, every national policy targeting poverty, social protection, or decent work needs to recognise the role of the informal economy in national development.

The 2030 Agenda encourages member states to conduct regular and inclusive reviews of progress at the national and sub-national levels which are country-led and country-driven. This course focuses on building capacity in countries for reporting on the SDG indicators using national indicator frameworks. During the course participants will learn about key concepts around metadata, particularly related to the SDGs, learn how to fill the SDG metadata template and better understand the importance of metadata to help explain the data and potential differences between data.

SDG 3.8.2 indicator is focused on relatively large Out-of-Pocket (OOP) health spending which might lead to cutting spending on other basic needs such as education, food, housing and utilities.

This course will focus on climate change indicators that can be compiled from environmental economic accounts. After a brief overview of climate change and, relevant polices and multilateral agreements, participants will learn how to compile various indicators that inform climate change. The focus of the course is on better understanding the relationship between climate change and economic activity. And the statistical framework that provides the concepts, definitions, and methodology for measuring this relationship is the System of Environmental Economic Accounting.

This e-Learning course introduces the System of Environmental Economic Accounting -Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA), the agreed statistical framework for collecting such information on ecosystems and their relationship to human activity. The SEEA EA provides an integrated statistical framework for organizing biophysical information about ecosystems, measuring ecosystem services, tracking changes in ecosystem extent and condition, and linking this information to measures of economic and human activities.

Disasters continue to have an ever-increasing impact on life, well-being and sustainable development. Given these impacts, there is a high demand at the local, national and international levels for high quality, integrated statistics to inform all phases of the disaster risk management cycle. Furthermore, disaster related statistics are not only relevant to those working to prepare and respond to disasters but also to the public at large, research institutions and policy analysts at the local and national levels.

CPIs measure changes over time in the general level of prices of goods and services that households acquire (use or pay for) for the purpose of consumption. In many countries, they were originally introduced to provide a measure of the changes in the living costs faced by workers, so that wage increases could be related to changing levels of prices.

Historically business statistics have focused very much in measuring the economic performance and competitiveness of businesses. However, businesses play a very important role toward sustainability and wellbeing. Task team on well-being and sustainability under the UN Committee of Experts on Business and Trade Statistics (UN CEBTS) identified a set of 17 reference indicators related to the measurement of the business sector’s impact on well-being and sustainability.

Disasters continue to have an ever-increasing impact on life, well-being and sustainable development. Given these impacts, there is a high demand at the local, national and international levels for high quality, integrated statistics to inform all phases of the disaster risk management cycle. Furthermore, disaster related statistics are not only relevant to those working to prepare and respond to disasters but also to the public at large, research institutions and policy analysts at the local and national levels.

Environment is one of the three pillars of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Compiling the environment related indicators is key to informing policies and measuring progress towards achieving the SDGs. This course focuses on the 25 SDG indicators that are under the custodianship of UNEP. In the 10 modules of the course, participants will learn about the importance of monitoring the environmental dimension of development, the linkages of indicators with existing statistical frameworks, and how to use environment statistics in decision making.

This course is an advanced course in data visualization, conceived as an extension to SIAP’s facilitated course “Data Visualization for Official Statistics and SDG Indicators” conducted in 2021 and 2022 or, alternatively, to the self-paced course “Principles of Data Visualization for Official Statistics and SDG Indicators” available on SIAP’s e-learning platform. This new course focuses on methods to produce high-quality graphics for monitoring and publishing official statistics and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators.

This course in Thai language aims to build national capacities for the compilation of disaster related statistics for enhancing disaster management and promote the risk-informed sustainable development in Thailand. The course also aims to facilitate national monitoring and reporting on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It introduces concepts relevant to compiling disaster related statistics. The course consists of online modules and online discussion forums.

The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires the availability of high quality, timely and reliable data to produce the relevant SDG indicators and other statistics, disaggregated as relevant. In order to meet this need, official statistics must modernize and incorporate new data sources, including Big Data.

With the increased and evolving demand for data from national development plans, Agenda 2030 for sustainable development goals, the current and post crisis affecting the World, including COVID-19 and climate change; National statistical offices (NSOs) continue to be at the forefront of developing and coordinating national statistical systems (NSS) as well as engaging with the larger data ecosystem.

The System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA) provides the agreed upon statistical framework for measuring the relationship between the environment and the economy. It is comprised of two complimentary international statistical standards: the SEEA Central Framework (SEEA CF) and the SEEA Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA).

Historically business statistics have focused very much in measuring the economic performance and competitiveness of businesses. However, businesses play a very important role toward sustainability and wellbeing. Task team on well-being and sustainability under the UN Committee of Experts on Business and Trade Statistics (UN CEBTS) identified a set of 17 reference indicators related to the measurement of the business sector’s impact on well-being and sustainability.

Within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), gender equality is not only a standalone goal but also one of the crosscutting universal values that underpins the SDGs, and a necessary precondition for achieving the goals of the 2030 development agenda. Good quality, timely, comparable, and disaggregated gender data provide the evidence needed to measure progress towards achieving the gender-related SDG goals and targets.

The United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and Pacific (UNSIAP), together with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Statistics Korea (KOSTAT) will organize a regional training on education data capacity building from 15 to 19 May 2023, in Daejeon, Republic of Korea. The program will focus on understanding education indicators based on household survey data, as well as administrative sources with a focus on SDG4 and other relevant SDG targets related to education such as child labour.

Water is essential to achieve sustainable development. At a fundamental level, the availability of clean water in and of itself is necessary for our health and overall well-being. Water is also an important input to many economic activities, from the production of food and energy to the manufacturing of computers and cars. High quality and timely statistics on water are need in order to manage our water assets and track water supply and use. This course will focus on water statistics and accounts, as well as some important water aggregates and indicators (including SDGs).

Historically business statistics have focused very much in measuring the economic performance and competitiveness of businesses. However, businesses play a very important role toward sustainability and wellbeing. Task team on well-being and sustainability under the UN Committee of Experts on Business and Trade Statistics (UN CEBTS) identified a set of 17 reference indicators related to the measurement of the business sector’s impact on well-being and sustainability.

Inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) is a primary source of income generation, allows for rapid and sustained increases in living standards of people, and provides technological solutions for an environmentally sound development. ISID is an integral part of the SDGs, particularly SDG 9, which focuses on industry, innovation and infrastructure. Promoting inclusive and sustainable industries and continuing to invest in physical infrastructure, innovation and research are vital to long-term economic development.

The System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA) provides the agreed upon statistical framework for measuring the relationship between the environment and the economy. It is comprised of two complimentary international statistical standards: the SEEA Central Framework (SEEA CF) and the SEEA Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA). The SEEA CF takes a resource-based approach to measuring the supply and use of environmental resources and availability of environmental assets.

Identifying and responding to the needs of users for data and statistics is at the heart of the mission of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and national statistical systems. NSOs already undertake many activities interacting with different users such as preparing press releases to aid journalists and communicate with the public at large and organizing launch events/workshops to disseminate important results from surveys and censuses.

The numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) have increased rapidly in recent years, with UNHCR estimating over 100 million forcibly displaced persons in 2022. With displacement’s growing prominence, there is increasing interest at national, regional and international levels in statistics on refugees and IDPs including complete, accurate, timely and internationally comparable estimates of the numbers of people displaced, their well-being and vulnerabilities.

The System of National Accounts is a statistical framework that provides a comprehensive,consistent and flexible set of macroeconomic accounts that can be used by governments,businesses, and international organizations for policy making, analysis and research purposes. The SNA is intended for use by all countries, having been designed to accommodate the needs of countries at different stages of economic development.

This course introduces concepts relevant to compiling indicators that inform climate change. The topics covered include among others: climate change policies and indicators; energy and air emission accounts; and data sources. Weekly webinars will also be held as part of the course to provide an overview of the topics and allow participants to ask questions.