Africa-Press – Namibia. THE United Nations Development Agency (UNDP) has raised concerns about recurring challenges with the current production of statistics.
THE United Nations Development Agency (UNDP) has raised concerns about recurring challenges with the current production of statistics.
UNDP deputy resident representative Anne Madzara said the continent and Namibia specifically, faces recurrent challenges.
Madzara was speaking on Thursday, during the launch of statistical standards in Windhoek.
“One such example is the 2021 Population and Housing Census, which has been deferred because of Covid-19 related budget prioritisations,” she said.
Madzara said timely and reliable statistics are fundamental to measure progress in planning and decision making, reaching development goals, and to provide essential information about the effectiveness of policies and programmes.
“Reliable statistics help governments improve their policies which have to be evidence based, and to be transparent and accountable about the delivery of development results.
Madzara said statistical quality depends on data uses and users, and adequate analysis of statistical quality permits the identification of target areas for capacity building and resource allocation.
“The ability to provide regular and reliable data on the economy and the well-being of the population is an important indicator of good policies and institutions,” she said.
Madzara said by launching the statistical standards, the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) is meeting several of the objectives of the African Charter on Statistics
NSA statistician Alex Shimuafeni, during the launch, said there is a growing need for quality and timely statistics to support and inform public policymaking.
“Achieving and maintaining public trust in official and other statistics requires that those statistics are produced in an objective, transparent and professional manner, which should be adhered to by all statistics producers.
“That is simple because wrong or inaccurate statistics are of no use as they can mislead users of statistics and cause inadequate planning,” he said.
NSA launched four standards: data and statistics dissemination, data and statistics presentation, statistical metadata standard and statistical quality indicators standards.
Shimuafeni said as an institution they collect statistics for decision-makers and research institutions, among others.
“These standards outlined for the national statistics system, which includes statistics producers such as different ministries, banks, etc. and respondents, these will be the people we interview; users of statistics, such as policymakers, the central bank, schools; research institutions; and training institutions,” he said.
Deputy director general of statistics in South Africa Nthabiseng Makatha, who was present at the launch, said the standardisation provides an agreed way of doing things by providing means to facilitate transparency and knowledge retention and ensuring consistency during the production of statistics.
“Statistical standards do not exist for themselves but are part of the infrastructure that enable production of official statistics.
“Standards contribute to high quality statistics,” she said.
UNDP deputy resident representative Anne Madzara said the continent and Namibia specifically, faces recurrent challenges.
Madzara was speaking on Thursday, during the launch of statistical standards in Windhoek.
“One such example is the 2021 Population and Housing Census, which has been deferred because of Covid-19 related budget prioritisations,” she said.
Madzara said timely and reliable statistics are fundamental to measure progress in planning and decision making, reaching development goals, and to provide essential information about the effectiveness of policies and programmes.
“Reliable statistics help governments improve their policies which have to be evidence based, and to be transparent and accountable about the delivery of development results.
Madzara said statistical quality depends on data uses and users, and adequate analysis of statistical quality permits the identification of target areas for capacity building and resource allocation.
“The ability to provide regular and reliable data on the economy and the well-being of the population is an important indicator of good policies and institutions,” she said.
Madzara said by launching the statistical standards, the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) is meeting several of the objectives of the African Charter on Statistics
NSA statistician Alex Shimuafeni, during the launch, said there is a growing need for quality and timely statistics to support and inform public policymaking.
“Achieving and maintaining public trust in official and other statistics requires that those statistics are produced in an objective, transparent and professional manner, which should be adhered to by all statistics producers.
“That is simple because wrong or inaccurate statistics are of no use as they can mislead users of statistics and cause inadequate planning,” he said.
NSA launched four standards: data and statistics dissemination, data and statistics presentation, statistical metadata standard and statistical quality indicators standards.
Shimuafeni said as an institution they collect statistics for decision-makers and research institutions, among others.
“These standards outlined for the national statistics system, which includes statistics producers such as different ministries, banks, etc. and respondents, these will be the people we interview; users of statistics, such as policymakers, the central bank, schools; research institutions; and training institutions,” he said.
Deputy director general of statistics in South Africa Nthabiseng Makatha, who was present at the launch, said the standardisation provides an agreed way of doing things by providing means to facilitate transparency and knowledge retention and ensuring consistency during the production of statistics.
“Statistical standards do not exist for themselves but are part of the infrastructure that enable production of official statistics.
“Standards contribute to high quality statistics,” she said.
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