Strengthening Coordination of the Statistical Programmes in the United Nations System

E/RES/2020/5View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Economic and Social Council, under agenda item 18cStatistics, published in 2020.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

5 entities

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

3 topics

Coordination Within UN System Statistical Services Statistics

What does this mandate say?

17 operative paragraphs

Recognizes that coordination between the statistical programmes of the United Nations system requires streamlining and improving in order to better support the efficiency of the United Nations statistical system to provide harmonized, reliable statistical information for monitoring progress towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,1 to minimize the reporting burden, support national ownership and improve coordination of capacity-building;

Also recognizes that the Statistical Commission remains the primary body for the coordination of the statistical programmes of the United Nations system;

Requests the Committee of the Chief Statisticians of the United Nations System to more effectively strengthen coordination of statistical programmes within the United Nations system, guided by and in support of the work of the Statistical Commission;

Requests the Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat, as the secretariat of the Committee of the Chief Statisticians of the United Nations System, to provide adequate support to the coordination function of the Statistical Commission as well as related activities of the Committee, by considering pursuing a range of activities that could include the following:

Improved functional coordination

Well-coordinated activities, including a road map and action plan for the United Nations statistical programme with target and performance indicators to monitor the development of United Nations statistical governance towards a strengthened and efficient United Nations statistical system, to be considered by the Statistical Commission;

Improved coordination in the area of data collection, in collaboration with organizations at all levels, to avoid duplication in that area and thus reduce the response burden for Member States;

Modernized statistical processes at the United Nations as well as in Member States, upon their request, to be achieved by improving the efficiency of data collection, implementing new methodologies and emphasizing the impact of statistics, under the leadership and coordination of the national statistical offices, as applicable;

Improved dialogue with the statistical community and decision makers to review the relevance of the current data requests in relation to changing information needs in order to facilitate more optimal statistical services with a view to meeting the information demands;

Improved coordination in the area of capacity-building (in line with the Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data), especially in the capacity-building of developing countries, including through the facilitation of South-South cooperation;

Improved regional and national coordination

Support provided to United Nations regional commissions and country offices in facilitating the work of regional and national coordination structures in the field of statistics, as appropriate;

Improved coordination in thematic areas

Improved knowledge-sharing and the establishment of common practices in adopting new data sources through workshops, the development of technical material and a knowledge base;

Established policies and standards for achieving open data, with required data protection for sensitive data, in conformity with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and national laws and regulations;

United Nations Statistical Quality Assurance Framework implemented by members of the Committee of the Chief Statisticians of the United Nations System, inter alia, by conducting or facilitating peer reviews of United Nations agencies, upon request;

Improved coordination with other professional networks

Collaboration and cooperation established and maintained between the Committee and the United Nations Geospatial Network in the area of statistical and geospatial integration;

Improved knowledge-sharing among members of the Committee in the area of the use of geospatial information in the collection, processing and dissemination of data;

Improved secretariat coordination

Improved communication through the continued production and distribution of Committee documents and joint statements for the relevant bodies in the United Nations system, including the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination;

Decides that the cost of all activities that may arise from the implementation of the present resolution should be met from voluntary contributions.

18 June 2020

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