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SADC REGIONAL STATISTICAL PROGRAMME

1. Introduction

The overarching objective of the SADC Regional Statistical Programme is to support regional integration by making available relevant, timely and accurate statistical information to be used in SADC for planning, policy formulation, protocol monitoring and decision-making. The Programme focuses on the availability of harmonized, comparable, reliable and up-to-date core statistics in the economic and social areas in particular economic, social statistics and cross statistical cutting issues.

In view of the above the SADC Statistics Programme aims at achieving the following:

• The Harmonization of statistical concepts, definitions and methods among member states;
• Coordination of regional statistics (National Accounts, Trade, Population, Prices, Gender, Agriculture, Education, Employment etc) development programmes;
• Customisation of international and other regional statistical classifications, definitions and standards to SADC;
• Enhancement and promotion of capacity building (including training) of National statistical systems;
• Collection, processing, storage and dissemination of National statistical data and collation into relevant and reliable regional statistics;

The implementation of the SADC Statistics Programme is generally overseen and guided by the SADC Statistics Committee. The Committee comprising of Heads of National Statistical Offices of the member states is also responsible for the provision of policy guidance regarding development of statistics in the region.

Under the new SADC Secretariat Organisational Structure as approved by the SADC Council of Ministers on 25th February 2005, the SADC Statistics Programme is under the Policy and Strategic Planning Unit within the Office of the Executive Secretary. Four positions are provided within the structure in respect of the statistics function whose focal main areas include Foreign Trade, Macroeconomic and Social and Human Development.

2. SADC Statistical Projects and Initiatives

Development of SADC statistics has generally been guided by the Strategy Document approved by Council in 1998, which stipulates that SADC statistics are critical in the monitoring and evaluation of the SADC Programme of Action and the regional integration process. Key initiatives undertaken in respect of the operationalisation of the foregoing include the:

2.1 SADC Regional Statistical Training Project jointly financed by the European Union and SADC whose main aim is “To enhance human resource capacity for the co-ordination, production and utilization of official statistics that are required in support of priority policies (in Protocols and other key agreed areas) of SADC and Member states.” The project whose estimated total cost is Euro 5.8 million has been implemented since 2001 and is due to end 2007.

2.2 SADC Price Statistics Project financed by the European Union aimed at harmonizing the production of Consumer Price indices in the SADC. The project with an estimated cost of Euro 2.1 million ended in November 2006.

2.3 Statistical Capability Building for Poverty Reduction Strategies project financed by the World Bank under the Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building whose main objective is to support development capacity for the establishment of National Poverty Reduction strategies in the SADC member states.

2.4 SADC Millennium Census Data Analysis Project whose main aim was improvement of the analytical capacity for analysing Population Census data in the member states. The project received financial support from Rockefeller Foundation and officially ended December 2005. A successor project is envisaged.

2.5 SADC Development Account Project launched in July 2006 to be implemented over a period of 4 years aims at strengthening capacity of member states and regional institutions in SADC for the production and analysis, on a regular basis, of benchmark statistics required for national development planning and for monitoring of progress of internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) is the executing agency.

3. SADC Statistics Programme and the RISDP

The SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) clearly identifies Statistics as one of the cross cutting issues. The Plan also stipulates the four identified priority key intervention areas in statistics that need to be focused on in the 5 year Plans within the 15 years framework of the RISDP. The interventional areas include the following:

3.1 Development of legal framework in statistics;
Under this intervention area two major components are to be considered namely, Development of the SADC statistics Protocol and/or development of relevant Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs). There is need for these instruments for statistics in SADC to facilitate compliance regarding the production, processing, analysis, dissemination, accessing and indeed archiving of especially regional statistical data and information by the member states.

3.2 Harmonization of Statistics in the SADC region

Major components for this intervention area include the following:

(i) Definition of scope (subject matter areas) for statistics at the SADC regional level;
(ii) Standards including concepts and definitions, classifications and methodology development for statistics at the SADC regional level; and
(iii) Formulation of Implementation strategy for harmonization of regional statistics.

3.3 Provision of relevant statistics for regional integration

Major components under this intervention area include:

(i) Development of information exchange mechanisms between SADC Secretariat and producers in Member States;

(ii) Development of relevant indicators for monitoring and evaluation of regional integration;

(iii) Development of an integrated regional statistical database; and

(iv) Ensuring accessibility to quality statistics

3.4 Statistical capacity development in SADC

The on-going Regional Statistics Training Project is basically the main vehicle for statistical capacity building and harmonization of statistics in SADC. The Regional Statistics Training strategy which has been developed under the project spells out priority areas for training in official statistics including key aspects for harmonization of statistics within the region.

4. SADC Regional Statistical Training Project

4.1 Objectives and Institutional Framework

The SADC/EU Regional Statistical Training Project (RSTP) is designed to address the lack of adequate and appropriate human resources to produce and disseminate relevant official statistical data, both at the national and regional level in SADC.

The expected Project Outputs include the following:

• Regional training strategy and national training strategies developed;
• Improved training capacity in the region in support of the above training strategies;
• More users (of statistics) are better able to utilize official statistical information as a result of the implementation of the above training strategy; and
• Producers (of statistics) are better able to meet users’ needs by provision of official statistics through improved training in management, communication and technical skills.

Key activities designed to achieve the above include:

• National training audits carried out to identify and prioritise training needs;
• The development of a co-coordinated regional and national training strategies;
• In-Service training programmes for National Statistical offices and other statistical staff;
• Short courses for management and communications professional staff producing statistics in National Statistical Systems;
• Short courses in understanding and using statistics for key users; and
• Training for trainers’ support at regional and national training centers.

The RSTP is implemented under the general policy direction and guidance of a Steering Committee comprising of representatives from the following:

• National Statistical Offices (NSOs) of the member states;
• SADC Secretariat; and
• The Delegation of the European Commission in Botswana and Eurostat as observers.

The Project Management Unit (PMU) headed by a Project Manager based at the SADC Secretariat is responsible for the day-to-day management of the project. Coordination of training activities at national level is undertaken through National Statistical Training Committees comprising key statistical producers and users and organized by the National Statistical Offices. Training Officers at respective National Statistical Offices are the focal points for the coordination of national statistical training committees and the interaction between the NSO and the PMU at SADC Secretariat.

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