Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics: Threats and Responses ________________________

1
Fundamental Principles of Official
StatisticsThreats and Responses________________
________

• UNSC High Level Forum on Official Statistics

2
Panelists

• Jean-Louis Bodin
• Pali Lehola
• Brian Pink
• Walter Radermacher
• Eduardo Sojo Garza-Aldape

3
Threats and Responses

• Threats to relevance, impartiality, and integrity
  (Principles 1, 2, 3)
• Threats to quality, cost-effectiveness, misuse
  and coordination (Principles 4, 5)
• Threats arising from data deluge national
  coordination, confidentiality, legislation
  (Principles 6, 7,8)
• What can we do international coordination and
  cooperation (Principles 9, 10)

4
Structure of the Forum

• Introduction 15 minutes
• Panelist 1
• Presentation/Questions 15 minutes/5 minutes
• Panelist 2
• Presentation/Questions 15 minutes/5 minutes
• Panelist 3
• Presentation/Questions 15 minutes/5 minutes
• Panelist 4
• Presentation/Questions 15 minutes/5 minutes
• Panelist 5
• Presentation/Questions 15 minutes/5 minutes
• General questions and summary 65 minutes

5
Principles

1. Relevance, impartiality and equal access
2. Professionalism
3. Accountability
4. Prevention of misuse
5. Cost-effectiveness
6. Confidentiality
7. Legislation
8. National coordination
9. International coordination
10. International statistical cooperation

6
Key objectives of the Forum

• Understand why this is being discussed now
• Timing
• Consider why it matters so much
• Importance
• Establish what has happened
• Evidence
• Determine what can we do about it
• Handling

7
Key messages

• Timing. why now?
• Budgetary pressures
• Political interventions

8
Key messages

• Importance. why do the fundamental principles
  matter so much?
• Code of conduct for global official statistics
  community
• Represent core values of official statistics
  profession
• Ethical standards against which the work of
  official statisticians is judged

9
Key messages

• Evidence. whats happened?
• Budgets cherry-picked
• Work programme powers taken away
• Methods not keeping pace with economy/society
• Official statistics being marginalised
• Saturation of statistics from other sources
• Increasing vulnerability in public domain
• Open to attack/being undermined

10
Key messages

• Handling. what can we do?
• Desirable for Principles to be redrafted to
  improve clarity?
• Periodic reviews through national reports and
  peer reviews?
• Commission to take specific action on national
  implementation of Principles?
• Mechanisms to refine Principles and strengthen
  implementation?
• Actions to commemorate 20th anniversary of
  Principles