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UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
Distr.: GENERAL E/ECA/PSD.8/18
17 February 1994 Original : ENGLISH
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
Eighth Session of the Joint Conference of African Planners, Statisticians and Demographers
Addis Ababa, 21-26 March 1994
ECA Statistical Activities in 1992-1993, Examination of the Approved 1994-1995
Work Programme and Provisional Work Programme 1996-1997
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The staffing situation of the UNECA Statistics Division during
the biennium 1992-1993 is comparable to that for the foiennium 1990-
1991. The Division had an average of 90.5 per cent of the total of professional work-months originally provided for it in the work programme budget, as against 91 per cent for the previous biennium.A list of professional staff of the Division is attached as Annex
I.
2. It is proposed that the Joint Conference should review the ECA statistical activities during the biennium 1992-1993, taking into account the relevant work programme (Annex II) , consider the approved 1994-1995 work programme (Annex III) and the provisional
work programme (Annex IV).
II. WORK PERFORMANCE (1992-1993)
3. The objectives of the Statistical Development subprogramme, as reflected in the Medium-Term Plan, are: (a) to strengthen the capacities of institutions at national, sub-regional and regional levels for data gathering, processing, analysis and dissemination, and (b) to develop and maintain specialized macro- and micro-
economic statistical databases.
4. The substantive activities accounted for 64.6 per cent of the actual resources available under the regular^ budget during the 1992-1993 biennium while the operational activities represented 15.9 per cent. The balance was for non quantifiable activities (9.2 per cent) and intermediate activities (10.3 per cent).
A. Measurable/quantifiable activities and outputs
5. The ratio between programmed and implemented outputs is as follows: (a) for January to December 1992: 99.0 percent; (b) for the biennium 1992-1993: 96.9 percent.
6. The unexpected termination of the Statistical Development Programme for Africa project at the end of March 1993 resulted in the increase of the workload of the regular budget professional staff in respect of the activities within the framework of the Strategy for the implementation of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s,including the servicing of the meetings of the Coordinating Committee on African Statistical Development (CASD) and its sub-committees.
7. The 1990 and 1991 issues of the "African Socio-economic Indicators" have been reformulated into one publication, as recommended by the 7th session of the Joint Conference of African Planners, Statisticians and Demographers.
8. The following outputs have been added for the reasons given:
(a) Parliamentary documentation:
-Report on ECA's technical assistance in planning, statistics, demography and information science; E/ECA/PSD.7/8. This report was considered by the seventh session of the Joint Conference;
- Proposals for accelerated implementation of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s;
E/ECA/CM.18/10. This document was submitted to the 27th session of the Commission/18th meeting of African Ministers responsible for economic planning and development.
(b) Non-recurrent publications:
- Review of the various types of indexes used in international trade statistics in Africa; ECA/STA/ESS/2(b)/11/91. This paper was recommended by the seventh session of the Joint Conference (cf.
Report of the Conference, E/ECA/PSD.7/37, para. 231).
- Linkage of international trade statistics with other economic statistics; ECA/STAT/ESS/2(b)/12/93. This paper was also recommended by the seventh session of the Joint Conference as referred to above.
9. The delivery of the Foreign Trade Statistics, Series C Nos 11 and 12, has been postponed to the next biennium due to staffing problems encountered by the International Trade Statistics Unit of the Division. The implementation of the non-recurrent publication on environment accounting in Africa has also been postponed to the biennium 1994-1995 due to the inadequacy of the resources available for the recruitment of a consultant to undertake the assignment.
This task is expected to be combined with the preparation and conduct of a regional workshop on the improvement and development of environment statistics in Africa scheduled to take place during the fourth quarter of 1994.
10. One paper titled "Asisessrnent of the use of trained statisticians in Africa as a result of 15 years of implementation of the Statistical Training Programme for Africa" has been terminated from the 1992-1993 work programme as it is included in the paper titled "Evaluation of 15 years of the Statistical
E/ECA/PSD.8/18 Page 3
Training Programme for Africa (STPA)" which is in the 1994-1995 work programme and is submitted to the eighth session of the Joint Conference of African Planners, Statisticians and Demographers. The relevant resources (man/months) have been used to support the activities of the Coordinating Committee on African Statistical
Development (CASD).
11. A technical publication on Guidelines on Environment Statistics in Africa, carried over from the biennium 1990-1991, has also been terminated due to continuation of the staffing problems in the field of environment statistics during the biennium 1992-
1993.
p. Non Quantifiable activities
12. About 9.2 percent of the actual man/months available during
the 1992-1993 biennium have been used for non quantifiable activities, particularly in connection with the activities of the Coordinating Committee on African Statistical Development (CASD) and its sub-committees, the involvement in the coordination of statistical activities at the global level through the Statistical Commission and the ACC Sub-committee on Statistical Activities and participation in the implementation of specific projects in statistics such as the Revision of the System of National Accounts(SNA) and the International Comparison Project.
13. The new SNA, which was adopted by the Statistical Commission at its 27th session in March 1993, is a final output delivered by the international community, including EGA. The implementation of this revised System will constitute one of the main concerns of the regional commissions in the coining years.
14. The non quantifiable activities, particularly those relating to CASD and its sub-committees, have a direct impact on the overall subprogramme. It is recognized that CASD serves to coordinate and direct much of the efforts now being made to revitalize, rehabilitate and develop the African statistical network, within the framework of the Strategy for the Implementation of the Addis Ababa plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s. This is in compliance with the objectives of the sub- programme. The four CASD meetings which have been held since 1992 have generated a great deal of momentum from the participating
agencies and institutions. It should be noted that UNECA manages
the secretariat of CASD. Four sub-committees have been established in the following areas: Training; Organization and Management of
National Statistical Systems; Data Processing; and Research,
Methods and Standards.
C. Operational activities
15. The major results of research activities that have been translated into operational activities include the assessment of
statistical capacities undertaken by ECA in 32 African countries, within the framework of a World Bank/UNECA project on Data
Collection related to Development Programmes and Aid Flows inAfrica. This assessment led to the formulation of the Addis Ababa
Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990sby the sixth session of the Joint Conference and the adoption of
the Plan by the 25th session of the Commission/16th meeting ofAfrican Ministers responsible for economic planning and development in May 1990. Moreover,activities carried out under the UNDP- financed project "Statistical Development Programme for Africa"
have enabled the formulation of a Strategy for the implementation of the Plan which was endorsed by the seventh session of the Joint Conference in March 1992 and adopted by the ECA Conference of Ministers in April of the same year.
16. The operational activities mostly requested by member States
include advisory services (including through field projects) and
organization of training seminars and workshops .17. Requests for advisory services are mainly in the areas of
statistical development and management, national accounts and other
economic statistics. Advisory services in the field of demographic statistics are dealt with mainly by the UNECA advisers in the UNFPA Country Support Teams located in Addis Ababa, Dakar and Harare.Requests for assistance in statistical database development and environment statistics are also expected to increase in the coming years in view of greater interest shown by member States in these
areas.
18. Member States also appreciate very much the regional training seminars and workshops organized by UNECA in the field of statistics. It should be noted in this connection that a number of African countries were able to mobilize the necessary resources to support their participants at a workshop on the implementation of the 1993 System of National Accounts organized by ECA in December
1993 in English. Moreover, some countries (e.g. Burundi, Ethiopia
and The Gambia) requested UNECA to provide resource persons fortheir national training seminars/workshops, particularly in the
area of national accounts.
Page 5
ig In 1992 the extra-budgetary resources available for 19. in "9*' ™_roiects represented about 126 percent of the
statistical field projects repre extra-budgetary
resources under the W « Jj^f- ^J^he termination of the
^-^iti/confRation on this issue fro, the
ILO Director General.
overall assessment
which have produced tangible impact during
iti.. <=dvi«ry , p,rticul.rly In
statistical Tracing Programme for Africa , consultancy assignment
on development of environment statistics and environmental
accountrnTframework and technical publication on Guxdelxnes on
Environment Statistics in Africa.
?1 The workshop on database and the biennial meeting of Directors of'STPA centres were expected to be financed from the SDPA project unfortunatelyas already indicated, this project was terminated at
the end of March 19J. Attempts have been made to explore
the ena ot "" SUDDOrt for the database workshop with the
technical support. A survey of the English-speaking African countries was conducted to find out whether they would be prepared to finance their participants at the workshop. The results are promising for the future. The Directors of STPA centres were also consulted about their possibility to finance their attendance at their biennial meetings. Less than half of them replied positively.
24. For the technical publication on Guidelines on Environment Statistics in Africa, it could not be delivered due to the fact that the post of Environment Statistician was not filled for 14 months during the biennium 1992-1993. This output has been proposed to be terminated.
25. The leadership role of the UNECA in statistical development in Africa, without prejudice to the important role of other agencies and donors, has been strengthened through the expansion of the activities of the Coordinating Committee on African Statistical Development (CASD) and its sub-committees.
III. WORK PROGRAMME 1994-1995
26. Annex III shows the work programme contained in the programme budget approved by the United Nations for the biennium 1994-1995.
In accordance with the revised Medium-Term Plan for the period 1992-1997, the title of the subprogramme has been changed to
"Statistical and Information Systems Development". The new sub- programme subsumes the activities of the former subprogramme Statistical Development and part of the subprogramme Development Issues and Policies.
27. The subprogramme places emphasis on assisting countries in establishing and/or developing a durable structure for the collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of integrated demographic, social, economic and environment statistics as well as other development information; developing the statistical data required for planning, monitoring and evaluating social and economic development; developing national statistical expertise;
developing national national data and information processing capabilities, especially through establishment of national databases, national information centres and enhanced use of modern information technology; improving the quality, relevance, timeliness and intercountry comparability and exchangeability of the data being collected, through harmonization of standards and methodologies; and strengthening the capacities of institutions at subregional and regional levels for the generation of development information and for data gathering, processing, analysis and
Page 7
dissemination; and developing and maintaining multisectoral and
other development information databases to be disseminated to all the member States and to interested development planners and researchers; the access to these databases will be widened through electronic media and eventually direct access will be made possible
through the planned network linkages.28 The activities under the subprogramme are being carried out by
the Statistics Division and the Pan African Development Information
System (PADIS).
29. The following amendments to the 1994-1995 work programme are proposed for consideration by the Joint Conference:
Recurrent publications
- The Foreign Trade Statistics for Africa, Series A:
Direction of trade (biennial, 1994), and Series C: Summary tables
(biennial, 1995) should be combined into one publication titled
"Foreign Trade Statistics for Africa" which will be annual.
- The Directory of statistical training centres and associate
centres participating in the Statistical Training Programme for Africa (biennial, 1994) should be deleted due to lack of resources.PROVISIONAL WORK PROGRAMME 1996-1997
30. The provisional work programme for 1996-1997 is attached as
Annex IV. Without going into detailed consideration of this
preliminary draft, the Joint Conference may wish to formulatecomments and suggestions which will be taken into account in the
finalization of the work programme for this period.31. It should be noted that efforts are being made to rationalize
ECA publications. In this connection, it has been proposed that the Directory of African statisticians be part of a Directory of experts which will cover all fields. It is further proposed that the current publication on African Socio-economic Indicators be included in the Indicators Appendix of a new publication titled"Economic and Social Survey of Africa" which would constitute the flagship policy publication of ECA. It is further proposed that the publications on Foreign Trade Statistics for Africa and the African Compendium of Environment Statistics be merged with the African Statistical Yearbook. If the above proposals are approved by the ECA Conference of Ministers, the relevant work programme for 1996- 1997, and probably also for 1994-1995, will have to be amended.
V. CONCLUSION
3 2. The Joint Conference is invited to make comments and suggestions on the implementation of the ECA statistical activities during the biennium 1992-1993, the activities planned for the period 1994-1995 and the provisional work programme for 1996-1997.
E/ECA/PSD.8/18 Annex I
I.
ANNEX I
LIST OF PROFESSIONAL STAFF OF ECA STATISTICS DIVISION REGULAR BUDGET STAFF
Office of the Chief Chief of the Division
Statistical Development Section Chief of Section
Chief, Demographic and Social Statistics
Chief, Statistical Data Base
Environment Statistician
Demographic Statistician
Associate Statistician (statistical database)
Robin Andrianasolo (Madagascar)
A.E. Cummings-Palmer (Sierra Leone)
Rene Rakotobe (Madagascar) A.M. Farazi
(United Kingdon) Christine Kronauer
(Federal Republic of Germany) K.K. Bockor 1/
(Togo)
A.M. Bakyono (Burkina Faso) V. Castillo
(Philippines)
Economic Statistics Section Chief of Section
Statistician (trade)
Industrial Statistician
Statistician (national accounts)
A.K. Amelewonou (Togo)
E.F. Ching'anda (Malawi)
V. Tankou (Cameroon)
S. Traore (Mali)
1/ Replaces temporarily Ms. Kronauer who has been seconded to a UNDP project in Nigeria.
Associate Statistician
II. UNPPA COUNTRY SUPPORT TEAMS
A. Ngwako (Botswana)
CST - Addis Ababa Regional Adviser in demographic statistics
E.A. Colecraft (Ghana)
Regional Adviser in
data processing/database management
Regional Adviser in sampling
Jean-Marc Hie (Cameroon)
J.O. Onsembe (Kenya)
CST - Dakar
Regional Adviser in demographic statistics Regional Adviser in
data processing/database management
Regional Adviser in census cartography/
automated mapping
Hamady Sow (Mali)
R. De Clercq (Belgium)
O. Bocoum (Mali)
Regional Adviser in sampling
A. Mayouya (Congo)
CST- Harare
Regional Adviser in demographic statistics Regional Adviser in Census cartography/automated
mapping
Jacob Tayo (Cameroon) R.R. Tripathi
(India)
Annex I Page 3
III. STATISTICAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR AFRICA (SDPA)
Chief Technical Adviser (household surveys)
M. Chaari 2/
(Tunisia)
ILO Regional Adviser in
household surveys (attached to ECA Statistics Division)
R.J. Pember 2/
(Australia)
Statistical Training Adviser
Statistical Training Adviser/
Household Survey Specialist
K.K. Bockor 2.1 (Togo)
J. Banda 4./
(Zambia)
2/ SDPA project terminated on 31 March 1993.
1/ Left at the end ofDecember 1993 4/ Left in October 1992
E/ECA/PSD.8/18 Annex II
ANNEX II
WORK PROGRAMME FOR 1992-1993
gubproaramma 21, statistical development
Activities will be designed to assist african countries in establishing and/or developing a durable infrastructure fo the collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of integrated demographic, social, economic and environment statistics; to develop the statistical data required for planning, monitoring and evaluating social and economic development; to provide continous support for developing national data-processing capabilities, especially by enhancing the utilization of micro-computers; and, to promote the improvement of the quality, relevance, timeliness and intercountry comparability of the data being collected.
1. Parliamentary services
Parliamentary documentation: seven reports to the Joint Conference of Arican Planners, Statisticians and Demographers on: ECA statistical activities during 1990-1991 and future work programme;* statistical requirements for monitoring and evaluating short-term policy reforms and long-term development programme;* progress and problems in the implementation of the Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990;* progress made in the revision of the United Nations system of national accounts;* the implementation of International Trade Commodity Classifications in African countries;
integration of economic, social and environment statistics: sources and methods; priorities for energy statistics in Africa, with special emphasis on new and renewable sources of energy.
2. Published materials.
(a) Nine recurrent publications: Statistical Newsletter (four issues); directory of African Statisticians; directory of electronic data-processing centres and experts, in Arica; African Statistical Yeabook: 1090-1991 issue (vols. I and II);* African socio-economic indicators (annual); biblography of African statistical publications;
Foreign Trade Statistics for Africa.
series A: direction of total trade; Foreign Trade Statistics for Africa, series C: summary tables; African compendium on environment
statistics;
(b) Ten non-recurrent publications: assessment of the use of trained statisticians in Africa as a result of the 15 years' implementation of the Statistical Training Programme for Africa;
statistical training programme for Portuguesse-speaking African
countries: selected issues; vertical and horizontal collaboration with respect to data processing among the different organizational units in national statistical offices; development of national statistical databases and impact of new technology on statistical computing in the region; wholesale price indices of African countries; status, methods of compilation and analysis and some suggestions for their improvement;
alternatives to population censuses in the provision of small areas statistics; selected issues on concepts definitions and classifications used in population censuses and demographic surveys in Africa;
applications and analysis of household survey data of particular relevance to the Africa region; environmental accounting in Africa;
improvement of informal sector statistics in Africa, with special emphasis on the measurement of women's contribution in the sector;
(c) Technical material: computer printouts of annual statistical indicators in: international trade, national accounts, commodity prices, sectoral deflators/inflators for national accounts; public finance, agriculture, transport and communications, tourism, industry, energy, constrution, environment, demographic and social indictors;
Statistical Annex to the Survey of Economc and Social Conditions in Africa; development and maintenance of ECA statistical database.
3. information materials and services: wall charts; ** press release for Arican Statistics Day - 18 November.
4. Operational Activities
(a) Advisory missions, in support of programmes on: statistical development and training at national, subregional and regional levels;
development and maintenance of national statistical databases;
improvement of international trade statistics; applying the revised United Nations system of national accounts and improving the quality of the basic economic statistics needed for their compilation as well as development policy formulation and planning; setting up integrated systems of industrial, energy and construction statistics and improving the coverage and timeliness of these data; improving demographic and social statistics, with special emphasis on improvement of data on women, children, youth and the disabled; establishing or improving environment statistics in national statistical offices;
(b) Group training: four workshops (XB) on: the development of national and regional statistical databases; household surveys;
implementation of the revised United Nations system of national
accounts;* the biennial meeting of directors of Centres participating in
the Statistical Training Programme for Africa;(c) Field projects on statistical development programme for Arica;
regional advisory service in demographic statistics.
E/ECA/PSD.8/18 Annex II Page 3
5. Coordination. harmonization and liaison: contribution to activities of the ACC Subcommittee on Statistical Activities; and other technical coordination meetings of the United Nations system.
E/ECA/PSD.8/18 Annex III
ANNEX III
APPROVED WORK PROGRAMME 1994-1995 1. international cooperation
Depositary services: Negotiation of six participating centre agreements for the exchange of development information with national and institutional centres participating in the PADIS network.
2. Parliamentary services
Parliamentary documentation: 10 reports to the Joint Conference of African Planners, Statisticians, Demographers and Information Scientists on ECA statistical and other development information activities (1992- 1993), work programme (1994-995) and provisional work programme (1996- 1997) (1994); * selected issues on the implementation of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s (1994);* methodological and technological developments in the 1990 round of population and housing censuses in Africa (1994);* the revised System of National Accounts: selected issues regarding its implementation in the African region (1994);* role of statistical information systems in the planning, monitoring and evaluation of national socio-economic development (1994);* evaluation of 15 years of the Statistical Training Programme for Africa (1994);* civil registration systems data collection, analysis and uses (1994);* importance of informal sector statistics for development planning (1994);* information management issues in Africa (1994);* and computer-mediated communications in Africa
(1994).*
3. Published materials
(a) 12 recurrent publications: Statistical Newsletter (bi-annual);
directory of African statisticians (biennial, 1994}; directory of electronic data-processing centres and experts and statistical databases in Africa (1995); African Statistical Yearbook, 1992-1993 issue (vol.1, 1994, vol.11, 1995); * African Socio-economic Indicators (annual);*
Africa in Figures (annual);* Foreign Trade Statistics for Africa, Series A: Direction of trade (biennial, 1994); Foreign Trade Statistics for Africa, Series C: Summary tables (biennial, 1995); African Compendium on Environment Statistics (biennial, 1995); directory of statistical training centres and associate centres participating in the Statistical Training Programme for Africa (biennial, 1994) ; and newsletter on development information systems in Africa (quarterly, 1994 and 1995);
(b) 14 non-recurrent publications: review of progress in postgraduate and specialized statistical training in the African region (1994); development of environment statistics in the African region (1995); research in national statistical services and centres
participating in the Statistical Training Programme for Africa (1995);
guidelines for the improvement of statistics on the situation of children in Africa (1994); guidelines for the improvement of statistics on ageing and elderly persons in Africa (1995); use of microcomputers and related software packages for processing foreign trade statistics in African countries (1994); compilation of energy balance shctets in Africa: practices and methods (1994); implementation of the International Comparison Project in Africa: progress and selected issues (1994); review of covereige, quality and timeliness of tourism
statistics in Africa (1995); approaches to the measurement of selected demographic and social indicators (1995); statistical databases: the impact of new technology on the development of national statistical systems in the African region (1994); and development information user need studies in member States and regional and subregional institutions
(1994 and 1995);
(c) Technical material: computer printouts of annual statistical indicators on international trade (1994) and 1995); national accounts (1994 and 1995); prices (1994 and 1995); sectoral deflators/inflators for national accounts (1994 and 1995); public finance (1994 and 1995);
agriculture (1994 and 1995); transport and communications (1994 and 1995); tourism (1994 and 1995); industry, energy and construction (1994 and 1995); environment (1994 and 1995); demographic and social indicators (1994 and 1995); development, maintenance and dissemination of computerized databases: (i) ECA multisectoral statistical database;
(ii) bibliographic computerized database on economic, scientific and technical aspects of Africa; and (iii) computerized database of references on African experts in social and economic, scientific and technical aspects of development in Africa (ongoing activities). Other technical material: statistical annex to the Survey of Economic and Social Conditions in Africa (1994 and 1995); and distribution, on request, of statistical and other development information management software to member States, including as a focal point for the Statistical Computing Project products and under the clearing-house arrangements of the Coordinating Committee on African Statistical Development (ongoing activity)*
4. Information materials and services
Statistical wall charts and graphs (1994 and 1995); and promotional material for commemoration of African Statistics Day (18 November) and Development Information Day (19 November) 1994 and 1995).
5. Operational activities
(a) Advisory services missions in support of programmes on
statistical development and training at national, subregional and regional levels;* development and maintenance of national statistical
E/ECA/PSD.8/18 Annex III Page 3
databases; improvement of international trade statistics; applying the revised United Nations system of national accounts and improving the quality of the basic economic statistics needed for their compilation, as well as for development policy formulation and planning;* setting up integrated systems of industrial, energy and construction statistics, and improving the coverage and timeliness of those data; improving demographic and social statistics, with special emphasis on improvement of data on women, children, youth and the disabled; establishing and/or improving environment statistics in national statistical offices;
establishment and strengthening of electronic information networks for the access and exchange of statistical and other development information among member States, subregional and regional institutions and international agencies, and creation, management and strengthening of development information systems;*
(b) Four workshops (XB) on statistical computing: selected issues (1994) ; implementation of the revised System of National Accounts in African countries (1995);* improvement and development of environment statistics in Africa (1994); and PADIS methodologies and standardization for the benefit of member States (one each in 1994 and 1995) ;
(c) Field projects: statistical development programme for Africa, regional advisory service in demographic statistics, and enhancing the development information capability of member States.
6. Coordination, harmonization and liaison
Participation in the meetings of the ACC machinery on statistical and information systems issues; participation in other technical coordination meetings of the United Nations system and other international organizations in the field of statistics and other development information; and coordination of information systems issues with UNESCO.
E/ECA/PSD.8/18 Annex IV
ANNEX IV
PROVISIONAL WORK PROGRAMME IN STATISTICS (1996-1997)
1* Parliamentary services
Parliamentary documentation: one report to the ECA Conference of Ministers on the implementation of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s (1996); 10 reports to the Joint Conference of African Planners, Statisticians, Demographers and Information Scientists on monitoring statistical development: a review and appraisal of the status of African statistical services five years after the adoption of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s (1996); statistical needs assessment and strategy development: lessons from the African exercise (1996) ; UNECA statistical activities (1994-1995), approved work programme (1996-1997) and provisional work programme (1998-1999),
(1996); report on the activities of the Coordinating Committee on African Statistical Development (CASD) and its sub-committees (1996);
Statistical Information System (SIS) and the role of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) in statistical development in the region (1996);
selected issues on data availability, estimation and management in African countries (1996); short-term forecasting: the role of statisticians (1996); implementation of the 1993 System of National Accounts: progress report (1996); the role of the International Comparison Programme (ICP) in strengthening price statistics systems of African countries (1996); and indicators of poverty in Africa:
selected issues (1996).
2. Published materials
(a) 9 recurrent publications: Statistical Newsletter (bi-annual);
directory of African statisticians (biennial, 1996); directory of electronic data processing capability and statistical databases in Africa (1997); inventory of statistical software in Africa (1996);
African socio-economic indicators (annual); African Statistical Yearbook: 1994-95 issue (vol.1, 1996; vol. II, 1997); Africa in figures (annual); Intra-African Trade Statistics (1997); and African Compendium of Environment statistics (biennial, 1997).
(b) 13 non-recurrent publications: new information technology, statistical data bases and connectivity issues (1996); statistical data dissemination: selected issues (1997) ; guidelines for the preparation of national statistical development plans (1996); estimation of missing international trade data in Africa countries (1996); availability and quality of international trade data in the African region (1997);
development of labour cost (wages) indices in African countries (1997);
importance of energy balance sheets for economic analysis and development planning in Africa (1996); implementation of the 1993
World Programme of Industrial Statistics in the African region:
progress and selected issues (1997); integration of statistical data on education within the SNA framework, with special emphasis on satellite accounts (1996); improvement of gender statistics in Africa (1996); uses of statistics on migration: cases studies (1997);
criminality in Africa: selected indicators (1997); and environment data in Africa: their availability, reliability and use in environmental assessment and management: case studies (1996).
(c) Technical material: Diskettes and computer printouts of annual statistical indicators on international trade (1996 and 1997); national accounts (1996 and 1997); prices (1996 and 1997); sectoral deflators/inflators for national accounts (1996 and 1997); public finance (1996 and 1997) ; agriculture (1996 and 1997) ; transport and communications ( 1996 and 1997); tourism (1996 and 1997); industry, energy and construction (1996 and 1997) ; demographic and social indicators (1996 and 1997) ; environment data (1996 and 1997);
development, maintenance, and dissemination of ECA multisectoral statistical database (ongoing activities).
Other technical material: statistical annex to the survey of Economic and Social Conditions in Africa (1996 and 1997); and distribution, on request, of statistical software to member States, including as a focal point for the Statistical Computing Project products and under the clearing-house arrangements of the Coordinating Committee on African Statistical Development (ongoing activity).
3. Information materials and services;
Statistical wall charts and graphs (1996 and 1997) ; and promotional material for commemoration of African Statistic Day (1996 and 1997) 4. Operational activities
(a) Advisory services missions in support of programmes on statistical development and training at national, subregional and regional levels;
development and maintenance of national statistical databases;
improvement of the qua1ity and t ime1iness of internat iona1 trade statistics; applying the 1993 System of National Accounts and improving the quality of the basic economic statistics needed for their compilation, as well as for development policy formulation and planning;
setting up integrated systems of industrial, energy and construction statistics and improving the coverage and timeliness of these data;
improving price statistics systems; improving demographic and social statistics; and developing and/or improving environment statistics in national statistical offices;
