Funding for statistics in Africa said to be very low
A call has been made for increase in funding statistics in Africa. Overall funding for statistics in Africa is said to be low compared to total development funding.
Speaking at the opening of the First Joint Session of the Committee of Directors General of National Statistics Offices and the Statistical Commission for Africa Monday December 8, 2014, in Tunis, Tunisia, Johannes Jutting of The Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21) said the overall funding for statistics that comes to Africa is around $400,000 to $500,000.
The PARIS21 is an organization founded in November 1999 by the United Nations, the European Commission, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, in response to the UN Economic and Social Council resolution on the goals of the UN Conference on Development.
The conference organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and Statistiques Tunisie, the national statistics office of Tunisia is under the theme, “Strengthening the production of agricultural statistics in Africa for better monitoring and evaluation of CAADP.”
The Joint Session is being attended by the Director Generals of National Statistics Office of African Countries, the Heads of departments of statistical units of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Schools and Institute of statistics, AFRISTAT and other Development Partners, to discuss policy progress of statistics and statistical activities in Africa.
The main objectives of the meeting include:
(i) to discuss the challenges related to the production of agricultural statistics in Africa;
(ii) to review the implementation of the African Charter on Statistics and SHaSA as well as the operationalization of the African Union Institute for Statistics and the Pan-African Statistical Training Centre; and
(iii) to contribute to the formulation of indicators of Post 2015 African Development Agenda.
The conference is also discussing the establishment of the Africa Statistical Institute to train statisticians on the continent. It was reported that Ivory Coast and Tunisia have offered to provide infrastructure for the beginning of the Institute and a call was made for support to start it in 2015.
The conference ends on December 12,2014.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi, in Tunis, Tunisia.