Evidence-based policy making and results-based public management require reliable and timely data for use in planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluating projects and programs. Currently, there is no lead agency or well-defined strategy to coordinate information production and, as such, the existing statistical network is nothing more than a loose arrangement of units too fragmented to guarantee the efficient production and dissemination of quality and timely statistical data that meets the country’s information needs.
Contributing to the problem is the existing Statistics Act of 1973, which is outdated and does not provide the Department of Statistics with any autonomy or the authority to establish and regulate a National Statistical System (NSS).
Component II will facilitate the availability of information to effectively monitor and evaluate the progress of Government programs through:
- The development and implementation of a National Strategy for Statistical Development (NSDS), including all stakeholders within the NSS
- Overhauling the Statistics Act to guide the modernization of the DoS (or National Statistical Office, to be established by the new law)
- The implementation of an institutional training program for both the DoS and the NSS
- The development and implementation of new business processes including:
- New organizational structure at the DoS
- A skills improvement training and change management program for staff
- Updates to the IT system, workflow and administrative procedures
- The development and implementation of an information system that automates DoS staff workflow and communication, as well as the entire process of collecting, processing and disseminating information
- The development of a multi-level awareness campaign aimed at the public sector, private sector, academics and researchers, and the general public that will focus on facilitating access to statistical information and improving the use of statistics
Key Links
♦ Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century
