United Nations Statistics Division UNSD Department of Economic and Social Affairs DESA

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United Nations Statistics Division - UNSD
Department of Economic and Social Affairs - DESA
Mr. Stefan Schweinfest Chief Statistical Services
Branch 29 September 2006
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Mission of UNSD

• Development of statistical standards and methods
• Data collection, analysis and communication
• Technical cooperation
• Coordination of global statistical activities

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Statistical standards and methods

• To develop and promote global statistical
  standards in the measurement of economic
  performance, social progress and environmental
  change

• International trade
• Distributive trade statistics ? Economic census
  and survey ? Business register
• National accounts
• Updating the 1993 SNA? Handbooks on National
  Accounts
• Environment statistics
• Framework for Environment Statistics ? System of
  integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting
• Demographic and social statistics
• Population and housing censuses ? Vital
  statistics and civil registration ? Fertility,
  mortality and international migration ?
  Disability ? Gender ? Economic characteristics
• MDGs indicators and sources
• Geographical information
• Classifications
• International Classifications of products ?
  Economic activities and functions

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Data collection, analysis and communication

• To collect, analyse and disseminate social,
  economic, political and environment statistical
  data at country, regional and global level

• Various data collection systems and databases
  -partly available online
• UN Common Database
• UN Comtrade
• System of National Accounts
• Energy Statistics Database
• Industry Statistics Database
• Demographic Yearbook Database
• MDGs Database
• Monthly Bulletin of Statistics

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Technical cooperation

• To assist Member States to establish a
  functioning statistical system which serves as
  foundation to an effective global statistical
  system

• Building strong national statistical systems in
  developing countries with country projects and
  training workshops, etc.
• Knowledge transfer of methodological development
  and best practices
• Support of good statistical governance

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Coordination of global statistical activities

• To coordinate and promote global statistical
  activities and enhance the functioning of the UN
  Statistical Commission as apex entity

• Statistical commission since 1946
• 24 member countries - four from Latin American
  and Caribbean States
• Promoting development of national statistics and
  improvement of comparability
• Coordination of statistical work of specialized
  agencies
• Development of statistical services of the UN
  secretariat
• Advising UN system on statistical matters
• Promoting improvement of statistics and
  statistical methods
• Committee for the Coordination of Statistical
  Activities (CCSA)
• Promoting coordination, integration and
  complementarity among statistical programmes
• Achieving an integrated system in the collection,
  processing and dissemination of statistics
• Fostering good practices for statistical
  activities

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Publication programme 2005

• Four major publications on statistical standards
  and methods
• 14 statistical yearbooks and compendiums
• Monthly Bulletin of Statistics
• Statistics Division Web site offering
  publications, methodology and data

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UNSD and Latin America and the Caribbean I

• Close cooperation with the Conference of
  Statisticians of the Americas and the ECLAC
  Statistics Programme
• CARICOM-Project
• Strengthening compilation capacity of statistics
  and indicators for UN conferences
• Key areas
• Information technology
• Environment statistics
• Social and gender statistics

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UNSD and Latin America and the Caribbean II

• Workshops organized in 2005
• 1993 System of National Accounts Update
• International Trade in Services
• International Economic and Social Classifications
• Poverty statistics
• Events financially supported in 2005/06
• Third Seminar on Alternative Methods for Censuses
• FEL to Latin American Conference on Environment
  Information for Decision-Making
• 5th Annual Meeting of the Washington Group

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United Nations Statistics Division on the web
Further information is available
at http//unstats.un.org/