NATIONS
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
Distr. , LIMITSE
S/CMT.-14/CAS. 9/21
9 September 1975 Originals
-J. EOOKOHIC 0OMMI3SIOK FOR AFRICA Ninth session of the Conference
of African Statisticians
Lcmey 6-15 October 1975 ■ .
- ■ ^LiiKEKTS OF A STRATEGY PA?;i# OH IMPROVING 3UCIAL STATISTICS POR DiJVELOPIHG CCOTTRIES
Propared by:
The Statistical Office of the United Nations :
' Paragraphs
BACKGROUND , ... " ' 1 - 4
DRAFT OUTLINE OF THE PAP3R ...*«,,... 5
DISCUSSION OF SOMiil Kiiir ISSQuS 6-24
SMATiGT MATRIX 25 - 28
I, BACKGROUND '■
I.
II- III,
,',iv,
\+ At its 18th B3ssion? the UN Statistical Commission considered within the oontaxt of its discussion of the System of Sooial and Demographic Statistics (SSDS) the ofcaraoter of such a system for developing countries* 1/ As the
Commission.'e report states:
"d2«. It *as evident f.-;om the discussion that there were t*fo someKhat dif- forent approaches to the desirable direction of immediate interna- tiora work in this area. On the one hand, -'here was the view that work should proceed on designing a simplified version of an SSDS for developing countries because the full version was.too complex for ' ■ the purposeo On the other hand, there was the view that the SSDS should be viewed simply as a process of systematizatibn and, that tho immediate objective was to improve, restructure and harmonize^
social statistics, keeping the full SSDS as a long-term goal and '
using it as a frame of reference,
83o However, the. Commission unanimously endorsed the value of an SSDS for developing countries and, above all, agreed on the importance of improving sooial statistics in developing countries in an inte- gated manner, It was agreed that systematic r.riter-national efforts were required to improve and harmonize social statistics^ while it was accepted that national efforts would neoessarily reflect nation
nal priorities*"
1/ Pares. 8l-85<
Page 2
2. During the course of the Commissions deliberations on this matter, *t proposed and accepted that the UN Statistical Office would prepare a strategy, paper on improving social statistics in developing countries for consideration by the Commission at its 19th session, in 1976. It was further agreed that a progress report on this paper, along with a consultant's paper on the relevance
and feasibility of adapting the full version of the SSDS for use in the develop
ing countries, would be considered by a meeting of experts. 2/ An Expert Group on Social Statistics and on a System of Social and Demographic otatistios for Developing Countries is being convened by the UN Statistical Office for tniapurpose in November 1975"
3. The present document is being presented to the Conference of African Statisticians to obtain, at a relatively early stage in the process of prepara tion, some authoritative comments and guidance on this matter from one of the concerned regions. The views and recommendations of the Conference, toey™* ■ with those of the November Experts Group and those obtained by consultations with
other developing regions, will be taken into account in preparing the final version of the paper to be submitted to the Statistical Commission.
4* The remaining sections of this paper provide, respectively, a draft outline
of the final papers a discussion of some key issues involved, and a strategymatrix in outline form.
II. IEAPT OUTLINE OF TH2 PAP12R
5, The draft outline of %he proposed strategy paper is presented b accord with the recommendation for conciseness in the preparation of for the Commission made by the Commission's Working Group, the ^
A.2 of the paper, particularly subsections a and b, would be quite brier.
A. Introduction And General Considerations
1. Introduction
(Background of paper: Coverage of social statistics. Range of Developing Countries)
2. General Considerations
a Purpose and use of social statistics: (Planning, adMnistesHng and
" Satinfgovernment programmes) , (Describing social circuit™
and identifying areas of concern), (Providing some indicative
for planning and policy),
b. Problems encountered in the use of social statistics; (Poor
lack of usefulness and insufficient detail and timeliness ***"**- able statistics), (Lack of internal comparability and problem of unit of measure ent between sectors), (Non-availability of needed
statistics).
2/ Para. 85*
\ ■ '■» ' * 3/CN.14/0AG.9/21
Page 3
Source of problems: (statistical services unaware of needs and planners unaware of possibilities and limits), (Lack: of financial or human resources'to'meet nc-eda aven when known to statistical services), (Di -ersity of administrative agencies).
B. Improving Social Statistics in Developing Countries 1. Range of national policies on improving social statistics
a. Concerted support. ■ ..
"b. Ad hoc support alon^, instrumental linrs, e.g., support for a household su-~vey programme.
c. Ad hoc support along subject mattsr lines, e.g., support for education statistics.
d. No support or definite opposition, e.g., considered as diversionary to ths improvement of economic statistics.
2. Distinction "between policy as idealistic expression of long-range intentions and as guides for action.
3. Components of a national programme for improving social statistics in
developing countries.
a. General objectives
(i) Lstablishment of links between producers and users of
statistics.
(ii) Conservation of scarce resources.
(iii) Search for methodological solutions that are easy to apply (i*e., refined thinking needed to produce efficient and simple techniques).
(iv) Need to develop local statistics capability - simple things
that can "be done by untrained or semi-trained local officials for local programmes.
(v) Designing a minimum easily attainable programme for quick
results even if the investment period is. long.
b. Specific components (leading from infrastructure to operations)
(i) Training in social statistics and relevant specialities as .
training in primarily dev^lopi-ng-country problems -.estimation
.- ...., - sampling -cartography. . ',
(i.i) Creation of mechanisms for'linkages and co-^ordinati'on.
. .(iii) Inventory of national activities, consequent requirements
ahd relevant capabilities.
(iv) Bstablishmsnt or enhancement of national household survey
- -. capability* ' ■
B/CN.14/CAS..9/21
Page 4
(v) Identification and establishment of dissemination vehicles.
(vi) Devslopraent of national statistical priorities for social statistics.
(vii) Development of detailed work: programme and calendar of
operations.
(viii) Implementation (design, collection, processing and tabulation).
(ix) -Publication (basic data, descriptive reports, and analytical reports).
(x) Braluation (leading to a continuing repetition of steps (vi) through_ ( x).
c. Major differences between developed and developing countries in the field of social statistics.
(i) L^vel of statistical development•
(ii) Differences in the nature of society.
(iii) Level of economic development.
(iv) Level of administrative organisation.
C. Role of International Activities'and Assistance
1. Range of possible activities at the international level.
2. Impact on technical assistance strategy.
3. Summary assessment of appropriateness and likely effectiveness of
various kinds of international activities in relation to the components of a national programma that axe listed in section 3.3 above.
4* Some implications of summary assessments for UN system and agency co ordination and allocation of tasks to different bodies both internation al and regional.
III. DISCUSSION OP "SOCS KEY IooTCS
6. The purpose of this paper is to outline a strategy for improving social statistics in developing countries. It examines the reasons for improving social statistics considering tha uses to which they can be put and the value of placing them in some co-crdinated general framework.. It suggests possible ways of d?veloping viable statistical operations and indicates the different pur poses of such programmes. Reliable and up to date statistics can be used as a valuable aid in the design and monitoring of national and local social programmes as well as being a means of measuring effectively their impact and the long- term gains* Social statistics should be used not only by the statistician himself but also by the planners in the Central and sectoral ministries. The users of statis tics have much more to ^.ain from readily available simple statistical series than the producers. Indeed, the end products of statistical programmes of work are not statistics! Statistics are a sta^e in the process.* It is the non—statistical end products of better policy and management decisions that are the real object-
Page 5
ires of statistical programmes and it is'to those ends that this paper is directed. The purpose of the paper however is not to: suggest the perfect or complete statistical programme "but to indicate "briefly the different stages through which a good programme can "be realised.
7* One cannot plan, monitor, evaluate or review social programmes on a rational basis" without statistical series, particularly when dealing with
subtle and complex social mechanisms. All too often, plans in respect of social programmes are a mixture of humanitarian wishes, political aspirations and
optimistic projections. By using current and historical data, plans can be made more realistic to the; extent that they are serious attempts to allocats scarce resources and not political statements of long term aspirations,
statistical series enable the planner to identify ths components of trends and may well lead him to the identification of causes, the explanation of malfunct ions and the planning of alternative options, with a regular programme of gathering data, the progress of at least the more organized parts of the social system can thus be monitored over key periods in time, statistical series should also act as an early warning system by revealing unforeseen side effects and by projecting recent trends. The objectives that are assigned to social servic-s, the degre- to which the services, are meeting these objectives and the extent to which these objectives are consistent with individual needs should all be-constantly kept in mind. Social planning and statistics should not be limited-to sets of data describing the implications of certain given hypotheses conce.rni-nfe.th3 social system and offering suitable benchmarks. They should also be concerned with the external relevance equity and performance of the different social services as well as their internal efficiency.
8. In the context of planning and monitoring social programmes, a sound
statistical base provides the means for the necessary understanding of how programmes are running in different parts of the country. National aggregates are not enough. It is essential to distinguish betwoen the total national situation, the .situation of the aggregate of special groups, and the variations between different groups and different .areas. Howevsr, as the unit becora-s •■smaller the data n^d to be more detailed and thp likelihood of authority and resources being-provided to obtain the required level of detail will be corres pondingly reduced. This is a major problem and a balance needs to be maintained between tne need for detail and the limitations of the statistical capacity of the system. Local and regional data have a key measuring function and the
statisticians, planners and administrators in the rs^ional and local authorities will play a key role in the work of monitoring the different impact of social
programmes within the country.
9. ^ Another important problem affecting existing social statistics based on administrative- sources is the slowness in the flow of information between tbe reporting unit, usually local, and the management and policy units, usually central. This is because reporting is almost always done in stages of increas ing aggregation. 3y cutting out the stages and encouraging a direct flow of the most important pieces of information through a one-sxage reporting system with only one intermediary point, and that as a checkpoint, the reported administra tive statistics can "be used for evaluation and policy purposes while -they; are still current and therefore most relevant. ■ If this quick flow of information' is allied to the provision of brief, simple reports th«n it might be said that statistics are bein* produced and used as they should bo.
E/CN..14/CAS..9/21
■Face 6
10. Social statistics are in a generally haeiorard- state throii^hout the world and a programme for making them more relevant, sufficient, timely and co ordinated will take considerable, time and resources-. It is important, there fore, that national authorities are not only convinced of the usefulness of this undertaking but are also aware of its likely results and the probable time scale involved before launching such a programme, oince.we are^thinking in.
operational tsrms, special attention must be paid to the feasibility of proposed data systems and collection programmes in the context of the
statistical realities of developing countries at different stages of develop- . msnt. It is generally agreed that national statistical systems in developing
countries, although varying widely, leave very much to be desired and that the demands made upon these systems have often bean in excess of their
capacities. It is not intended that a programme to improve social statistics should add unnecsssarily to the existing burden on national agencies but rather that it should seek to- concentrate on a few priority items that can be viewe a as a minimum statistical programme which is significant for the develop ment of social policies., Considerable attention will have to be giv^n to the search for a few simple indicative s-rios easily available to countries with unsophisticated statistical systems. In addition to promoting a household
survey capability, countries will need to make fuller use of existing administrative rrcords waerever this promi.s?s to provide valid statistics.
Too often in ths past, both international and national proposals havs been for either a comprehensive national collection procedure or nothing, with the result that ?ith^r nothing was- oolloctod or that th=* comprehensive national data were obtained many yoars too late for effective policy use.
11. In assessing needs and deciding on what, gaps should first be filled in a programme of improving social statistics special attention should be paid to • the growing problems of internal disparities - inequalities of access to services and inequalities of distribution, with particular reference to dis -
advantaged areas and disadvantaged groups. The disadvantaged grcnips are likely j to be found in the rural araa&>.. in urban slums and shanty towns, in isolated j regions, among the lowest income groups, with children ani in respect of j cultural and ethnic minorities. Jtatistical series which allaw.for an adequate j measure of inequality >ri 11 have to be developed, so that countries can a3sess j the extent to rhioh national policies of social equity are succeeding or need ^ strengthening. It is evident that in ohe developing countries the r7reat divide j is between the well-housed urban family and those in the shanty towns and-rural ■ areas, and it is to this division that particular attention should be paid. . I
12. The concepts of urban and rural, region, district and village have, to be determined according to the needs and conditions in each country. Data are
compiled by geographical and administrative, zones according to a wide variety- ; of. these conditions. A minimum r^comm^ded division would be urban and rural.
It would be useful however to have in addition a breakdown of tho urban by town and shanty town, although exact delineation is sometimes difficult. Most data are however available by administrative units and it is often feasible to use combinations of these units to approximate to some of the above zones.
Regional breakdowns.should taks into account ecolobical as well as admlnistra- j tive zones. It is important to agree on the selection of special regions and to j have aH agencies working in thorn in a co-ordinatad manner. The regions would o
probably be the meat backward agricultural districts in the country,.the regions with which transport communications are th« weakest, and the areas of declin
ing industry, oome of 'these melons may already have been designated as :
0/21
Page 7
"Development Areas", and statistical programmes should be linked to the ongoing activity in these regions. Similarly, co-ordinated work should be carried out in relation to social and cultural groups.which require-special attention
"because they comprise the least privileged, e.g., tribal'communities, immigrant and migrant workers,, cultural minorities, etc., or "because they present special problems due to their characteristics, e.g., very young children, out-of-school unemployed adolescents, nursing mothers, etc.
13- Social planning- and programming has to "be seen also in relation to- different socio-economic groups. The concept of socio-economic grouping has not^yet been adequately defined for international statistical purposes. It is a mixture of income, social class, occupation and even culture and location.
It is^impossible and perhaps undesirable at the present stage of statistics capability in most developing countries, to compile all demographic and social statistics by standard socio-economic groups. Countries may, however, develop simple national groupings most applicable to their own socio-economic structures and compile at l?ast some of the more basic demographic and social statistics in respect of such groups, £is,ch country must formulate its own working concept for the programme, particularly in the light of its major census grouping.
Care should "be taken however tc make these groups consistent to some degree with the socio-economic classifications proposed by thf United Nations in
"A Draft System of Statistics on the Distribution of Income, Consumption and
Accumulation" (fl/ClT .3/425)- Supplsmrntary information for special purposes
about groups requiring to be observed more closely will then be obtainedthrough special surveys, the important thing being to snsure th.-it all agencies use the same groupings. It is most important to ensure, whatever data are
collected, whatever indicators are produced, that they are presented separately by the major breakdowns that national policy considers relevant tc the programme.
As has been said earlier, in most situations national averages are not enough.
14» The approach to social welfare and development has to be necessarily multi- sectoral and has to tak.3 into account the implications of a wide ran^e of
policies. Information on a variety of social and economic aspects may be required for the formulation of plans and programmes,, -One of the Valuable features of a statistical programme should be the interlinking' of'data from the different sector. Attempts should be -nade to ensure that a survey in one sector asks questions a.bout the inputs and outputs from other sectors and aska then in such a way that they can be matched with macrodata normally collected for the whole sector. It has become increasingly clear that sectoral approaches are not sufficient in themselves and, beyond a poirt, fruitful outcomes depend on the different sectoral approaches supplementing and interacting with one another.
The stress should therefore be on both the improvement of sectoral data already available and the development of the sectoral and cross-sectoral statistics that are required s* as to lead to the more -ffsctivs utilization of these statistics for programme development,
15. The phasing of a programme should reflect the priorities of the policy makers. These priorities will vary from country to country but if the
programme is to be of immediate value they should represent the areas of direct intervention in social development and welfare In which the country is currently engaged. Priorities should not bo academic but should complement the projects in which special actions are being implemented. Nevertheless, it is likely that there will be a common co:e of priority areas, common to tar- similar conditions in most devsloping countries. Thes,-; social priority area.s in which action will
Page 8
probably have to be concentrated are; development of local health services^
maternal and young child-health * family planning, supply of drinking water;
basic education, particularly pEe~occupa-tional and other preparatory trainings improved nutrition for vulnerable groupsj welfare services for vulnerable groups, improved employment opportunities; and, more generally, strengthening' the family and the community and enlarging opportunities for girls and women.
In the context of these priority areas of social concern, the bias should be against series -indicating solely formal institutional performance, ^ome attempt should ue made to explore the problems of estimating- local access to
services *
16. Comparability over tiae is as important as comparability between sectors.
As a beginning, there should be a scries of basic indicative series^that are capable of showing the evolution over time cf th^ social situation in the priority areas of concern and also casting some li^ht on the effectiveness of measures taken. The desirabl:-. frequency of computation of these indicative series varies and needs careful discussion ranging from annual data through special survey data to censal data and suggestions are made in the appropriate sections. Vhatover frequencies are chosen, the presentation of time series is essential. Such time series coll^ct.-d rogularly on a current basis or periodically as the occasion requires would not only provide an indication of the past trends and current impact but also facilitate projections of the
future.
17. Acceptinf that statistics are essential to the intelligent■planning of society? th« crucial question is the extent to which national statistics and statistics-gathering systems a^e adequate for this purpose. It must be admitted that usually they are not adequate in the area of social statistics and there is a lack of a regular efficient data-gathering procedure. One cannot alight upon a social problem like some Deua ex Machin_a_ and carry out a quick rule-of thumb survey with a team of specialists. On- cannot conjure up new social
statistics merely because the present crisis is with us and an answer is needed.
Statistics take time - time to design, to collect and to analyse. Nothing can be proved in a hurry, arid to begin a new statistical series will take at least a year and usually longer. This is a serous disadvantage because in the midst of national crisis a county may not fe^l it has much time, and is tempted to plan without statistical series because that takos less time,
18. It is, however, impossible to promise quick returns because, unfortunately, there is no short-cut. There is no alternative to establishing a capability to carry out an efficient and rSfeular collection and analysis programme^ and it is here that the greatest weaknesses occur. A planning or management unit is capable of making great efforts to obtain data for a specific subjr-ct on an ad hoc_ "basis, for the purposes of an international loan, a policy statement, etc.
The cost is, however, exo^biltant and the results are likely to be highly
inaccurate. It is much cheaper and much more useful in the long run tc establish a permanent reporting- structure, and thus to have tht capability to carry out surveys including sample surveys on a planned basis. The creation of a report ing structure is not done adequately in practice, partly because it takes time, but mainly because it requires organising. It needs to be fitted into the administrative hierarchy; it requires infrastructure, it requires permanent staffing at all levels cf £overnment. 3ut once the system is working, accurate reports can be produced verj quickly and very cheaply.
Page 9
19. If a national programme is to be effective and prof i table, any single activity should be co-ordinated with the other statistical work that is being undertaken or plann-d in tfcu1 country. In view of the interdependence of the data and the multiplicity of agencies concerned with social statistics, careful attention should be given to the need: to dovise an appropriate co-ordination mechanism for social statistics. Each country will make its own arrangements in the light of its own administrative structure but it is likely that this will be done under the guidance of a central planning or statistical authority. The organisation of social statistics in most developing countries is decentralised, each major sectoral ministry being responsible for the statistics of its own sector. The Central Statistical Office may havs an advisory role through legislation or even national stabistical councils but only in a minority of casss is the Central statistical Office directly responsible for sectoral statistics either by undertaking the work its~lf or outposting its staff to the sectoral ministries. Large sc.:-.le multi-ssctoral operations like the
population and housing census, and household and sample surveys are organized by bodies which are part of or liractly associated with the Central Statistical Office, "Registration of births and deaths however is often the responsibility of an independent Registrar's Unit.
20. Both the Central statistical Office together with its specialist units and the statistical departments of the sectoral ministries have regional and district offices responsible for looal collection although often staffed by untrained officials in th^ case of tha ministries. Decisions are rarely taken and projects rarely initiated at the local l^vel. 'The line of command is one way - downwards.
Communication-between the Central Statistical Office and the ministries varies but is usually well meaning at the national level if sometimes ineffective.
Communication between the local units cf the Central statistical Office and the Ministries is usually non-exi3tant except in the case where a non-statistical agency is given supreme authority. This happens in the case of federal
countries like Mexico where the initiating unit is the state or in the case where regional development zones have been established as a planning priority and a departmental or provincial planning authority has been created with direct powers. The Central Planning Agency has of course an over-riding
authority and usually works in close collaboration with the Central statistical Office and the Statistical Units of the Ministries. If often has its own
statisticians ibr analysis purposes but in the main relies on the existing
statistical uni'us to obtain the data U requires. Often the Planning- Authority and the Statistical Office belong to tho same Central ministry but even when there are separate planning and finance ministries the links ar<* close.
21. The probable administrative control of a programme of improved social statisties and the expected de^r^e of co-ordination will inevitably reflect the -type of organisation and the. leve-1 of statistical development in a county.
whatever form ths co-ordination machinery tak-s - a National statistical Council, an ad-hoc substantive committee, an informal series of Ministry discussions, a provincial development committee, a villa&f council, it is important to include the policy-makers and the users of statistics as w-.ll as the producers. .Ideally the co-ordinating group, mea tiny regularly but not too frequently, should
include ths central statistical office* the national planning aoencyj the agencies responsible for population and housing censuses, household and sample surveys, and thf civil registration system, and the administrative agencies responsible for health, nutrition, water supply, social welfart, labour and education and the heads of the local popul -.tions whs re the project is a local project. Sectoral statistics whiob ara usually the responsibility of various
/
Page 10
administrative agencies, genrral statistics and large seal- operations like the Census which are centrally administered, and the planners and local officials will thus be brought to^thsr. It. is not necessary to brm£ all . these agftnoisa together at the "beginning. Considerable progress can he made
"by one or two agenci-s taking a lead and improving co-ordination with othar agencies as their work hears fruit. Different strategies will reflect the realities of th« national situation where one agency may be particularly well
led or -in breat heed of improvement. The co-ordination mechanism is not a prs
requisite. It is an objective.
22. The work programme should bo designed not only by the producers of
statistics hut also by the users and policymakers. It is important that their viewpoints he represents d, above all thos-> of th<* police-makers so that a
programme has the necessary political backing The polio--makers canbe ^ • attr.act,d to a programs if stress is laid on its contribution to V*P^*
management, on its ability to provide information justify a Ministry budget, on its value in grounding policy decisions. All programmes have some 6ood
effects. The problem is how to judge whethrr th, test programmes will be^ . applicable to the r*at of the country at a justifiable cost and m P^^enceto other programmes. The policy-mak.-r has to V, convinced that a statistical
programme will make som« contribution to th<, solution. The statisticalprogramme has to be sold and these are some of thr best selling- lines. Hes.aroh
and6acad,mic institutions engaged in social studies are vsry much "£«™* £
the development of social statistics both as users and producers of data, 'contributions of such institutions could h, substantial and they should be
encouraged to participate and Mid their prestige to the programs.
?~K ' It must not be thought that thF programmes envisaged are only or are ev*n
£ which village ocunities can themselves fcet tha neoessary st^«*
that they can start to appreci ate their own problems and try to find a
thh thi-ir o™ efforts. Villafee statistics are important becauseS how -rlou tho protle, is within their own village ^.mor
in that village are more likely to campaign to ^ -..W
in their own village ccm1nitt3e3 and at a hxgher
be an excellent way of informing th, village
nutrition ttiere. There are successful experiences m soinc
S- of villas cosine to pro.uc. their own data on
others where statistics are extremely good at tn- local H
existent at national levl.
E/CN.14/CAS.9/21
Pare 11
■ 24- The success of a progr u,i>ne 15 kr this defends to. a large ?xtent on the decree -to which it can he- grafted on to ths existing administrative structure-.
It is not therefore intended that a programme will generate its own collection mechanism. The'work of preparing and issuing questionnaires, collecting the data, verifying and collating ttie information, and analysing and publishing ■ ■ • the results will remain with agencies responsible for th«. subjp-ct matter •■•■ Thig programme will seek to move these agencies along certain agreed lin»s«: It will not take over ary of the agencies' responsibilities. Hcv/ever, in pressing for certain priorities the organisers of an effective programme will find it
necessary to argue for a streamlining of the cumbersome questionnaire process.
Questions have a habit of being added but nev^r being dropped and statistical forms quickly become merely th-= reflection of antiquated accounting1 procedures.
It is difficult to cut down a questionnaire as this involves problems of choice and layout, whereas it is easy to extend a questionnaire to satisfy all customers, i.ft., until thp. non-response begins to be noticed. Moreover officials often
feel that small questionnaires are inadequate and represent missed opportunities.
There must be a programme of educating the responsible officials to select, to reduce, to learn to ask for data at the right intervals, to make special
inquiries through sample surveys, to work with only partial returns and make estimates of the rest in tha interest of speed, to carry out simple checks, to ask for the minimum of calculation bj the respondent, etc. Progress can be made more quickly if at the same time as adding questions one can throw away most of the useless questions; and there is no shortage of thrm. A great deal
of work can be done in the simplification of records and th<- elimination of all unexploited record keeping. Records should never be kept "in case" or "because
in the pastr'n x'hey should be maintained only "because now ...". Most social statistics in developing countries ara symbotic in that they live to serve each other and not to help policy. The statistics generated or improved by these programmes should turn outwards, serving the needs of the relevant parts of the national plan.
IV. STRATEGY MATRIX
25- In any complex undertaking with numerous potential actors, such as a national programme to improve social statistics, a legitimate question arises as to "who" should do "what". Some of th^se issues have already been discussed with respect to the division of responsibilities among national authorities.
At that point it was indicated that there was con&'&erably variability among countries on this matter and that no single method of organization would be suitable foe all countries.
26. When one turns to the topic of the appropriateness of and likely effective
ness of various kinds of international activities that could be carried out in support of national programmes for the improvement of social statistics, soms degree of flexibility remains. However, it is clear that certain components of such a national programme would rarely or never be appropriate for international activity.
27« To assist in the process of clarifying the role and nature of international work in this area a strategy matrix in outline form is presented below. The row£ of the matrix r&fer to th-> components of a national programme for improving social statistics and th~ columns to various forms of international activity
(e.g., international reoommerdations, studies of national practices, provision of international expertss fellowship programmes), i'he cells of the matrix are
Page 1-2
left blank for tho present. However, suob*stions about appropriate oell.entries are:invited. If a particular aspect of a national programme is^considered to be highly inappropriate for a particular form of international activity, a "1"
should he placed in the corresponding cell. A "4" may be used if the specific international activity is considered to he highly appropriate, for a particular;
aspect, of the national program. The numbers "2" or "3" can be used for ,
intermediate assessments of- appropriateness.
