NEW INSTITUTE FOR STATISTICS TO ASSIST MEMBER STATES COLLECT RELIABLE DATA FOR POLICY-MAKING
Paris, February 17 {No.2000-12} - UNESCO's new Institute for Statistics (UIS),
created by the Organization's General Conference to collect and disseminate
quality data on education, science, culture and communication with a view to
assisting policy-makers world-wide, will hold its first Board Meeting on
February 21 and 22 in Paris.
British statistician Denise Lievesley, who has been appointed Director of
the UIS, explained that "the Institute aims to ensure that policy making is
informed by evidence. Monitoring the implementation of policies should also
be based on reliable up-to-date statistical data," she said, pointing to the
synergistic relation between statistics and sound policy-making.
"In collecting statistics internationally, we are, of course, dependent on
the quality of country data, but we can work with countries to develop
appropriate methodology to improve quality," explained Ms Lievesley. She
also argued that "there is no absolute quality threshold for statistics, the
quality required depends on how data is to be used."
Ms Lievesley further pointed out that obtaining reliable statistics was a
problem in many parts of the world, not confined to developing countries.
She said that UIS would provide "training to statisticians from Member
States together with support to develop and implement statistical plans. Of
key importance is the UIS's work to help raise awareness of the value of
statistics," she added.
"Statistics are crucial to accountability and I believe in educating
and encouraging the public to require information as part of good
governance," declared Ms Lievesley, whose Institute is working closely with
the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World
Bank and other United Nations and international institutions.
The UIS was created by the General Conference, UNESCO's supreme
ruling body, last November, to "provide statistical information on
education, science, culture and communication which helps decision-making in
Member States and facilitates democratic debate in UNESCO's areas of
competence."
Since its creation, the Institute has been closely associated with
the effort to assess progress in education for all (EFA) around the world in
preparation for the World Education Forum which will be held in Dakar,
Senegal, from April 26 to 28. It is preparing a report on the statistical
aspects of the assessment which will also be available on CD-Rom.
According to its statutes, the Institute enjoys both intellectual
independence and functional autonomy. It is governed by a 12-member Board,
six elected by UNESCO's General Conference and six appointed by the
Organization's Director-General. They are: Amelia C. Ancog (Philippines),
Lala Hiche Ben Barka (UNECA), Ivan P. Fellegi (Canada), Michael W. Oborne
(OECD), Frédéric Scanvic (France), Sheldon Shaeffer (UNICEF), Helena
Guimaraes de Castro (Brazil), Farid El-Boustani (Syria), Jasper Mani
(Kenya), Hong-wei Meng (China), Jozef Ritzen (Netherlands) and Zdenek Vesely
(Czech Republic).
Presently based at UNESCO Headquarters, the permanent premises of the
Institute are to be determined by the Organization's Executive Board in its
next session in May.
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