UNDP Zimbabwe seeks (see full message below):

• 'Good Practices' of national statistical offices in transitioning from Government Departments to a semi-autonomous agency;
• Examples of the organisational structure of a semi-autonomous Central Statistical Office;
• Experiences in African countries with national statistical councils/commissions acting as advisory boards. 

Dear Colleagues,

The Central Statistical Office (CSO) in Zimbabwe is embarking on a transformation process from a Government Department to a semi-autonomous Executive Agency. UNDP has been requested to support this process. The transformation is part of a broader strategy to strengthen the role of CSO as the key producer of national statistics to inform decision-making, planning and policy-making as well as monitor progress towards the MDGs.

Currently, the status of CSO is regulated by the Census and Statistics Act. The organisation forms part of the Public Service and falls under the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. However, when it comes to data analysis and dissemination, one of the major problems is the fact that the Act is interpreted in a very strict way, which sometimes leads to a certain reluctance to share data (even de-personalised raw data) with line ministries and researchers who would like to do more in-depth analysis. Other constraints include the bureaucratic decision-making process and rigidity in terms of budget operations, in particular the inability to roll over budget provisions e.g. for large-scale exercises as a census. In addition, there is limited capacity to collect, process and analyse data, high staff turn-over due to unattractive conditions of service, insufficient financial resources, and disputes between CSO and line ministries about who should collect, validate and disseminate which data ("my data syndrome"). All these factors have led to numerous delays in disseminating survey results, especially when they are somehow perceived as "politically sensitive", to the extent that by the time the results are finally published, they are already outdated and have become less relevant for decision-making. At the same time, a certain degree of distrust towards CSO seems to have developed among members of the general public who consider CSO as too closely linked to Government.

Considering the aforementioned constraints, officials from CSO and the Ministry of Finance have recommended the adoption of a new Act to establish a more independent statistical agency with administrative autonomy, operating outside the Public Service. As the authorities have in principle agreed to this, the next challenge is to develop a detailed step-by-step action plan. While the recent e-discussions on "Institutional settings of statistical offices" and on "National Statistical Commissions" provided very useful insights, we would still be interested in some more specific suggestions and recommendations regarding:

1. 'Good Practices' of national statistical offices that made a successful transition from Government Department to a semi-autonomous agency, preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa. If recommended, a study visit could be considered.

2. Organisational structure of a semi-autonomous CSO, more specifically the relation with a "parent Ministry" or other Government entity, and the advantages/disadvantages of an Executive Board instead of one Director/Chief Statistician.

3. Experiences in African countries with national statistical councils/commissions acting as advisory boards. So far the examples I have seen relate mostly to Europe and Asia, which raises the question whether such councils/commissions are common in Sub-Saharan Africa and – if established - whether they are considered useful and really do what they are supposed to do.

Looking forward to your comments. Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Alwin Nijholt

Poverty Analyst
Poverty & Economic Management Unit
UNDP Zimbabwe

UNDP Thailand CO is now working with the National Statistical Office (NSO) of Thailand to consider the scope and objectives of a statistics strategic development plan covering the entire national statistical system.  Following up on issues related to statistics raised during the long consultative process of the preparation of the first Thailand MDG Report, a proposal for NSO-UNDP Partnership to support on-going effort to strengthen statistical capacity and data availability and quality related to MDG monitoring in Thailand has been prepared.  UNDP Thailand CO is now working to finalize the NSO-UNDP partnership agreement, focusing on statistical master planning, redesigning of SES, and NSO capacity development.

Thailand has a fragmented statistical system with some twenty institutions producing statistical information in one form or another.  Under the Statistics Act of B.E. 2508 (1965) the NSO has the mandate to "plan, coordinate and direct technical aspects of all government statistical projects and activities" but lacks of the authority to ensure the cooperation of the Ministries.

Through the close consultation between international consultant, NSO and line ministries, one of the recommendations is to address some of the problems at NSO is the Thai Government considers creating an independent professional commission composed of a range of persons drawn from business, academia and parliament with an interest in evidence based policy making and who command general respect to oversee and advise on the professional work of the NSO and act as guarantor of its integrity.

We believe that such Statistical Commissions have been set up in several countries and we are now looking for the following information from colleagues in other countries:

1. The Statistical Commission Composition and Organizational Structure
2. The Appointment of the Statistical Commission
3. Terms of Reference
4. Term Period

The above information will be useful for Thailand to learn from other countries' Statistical Commission examples.

We are very much looking forward to an exchange of ideas and information from you.

With best regards,

Tongta Khiewpaisal (Ms.)
Programme Manager,
MDG Advocacy and Human Development Analysis
UNDP Thailand