The African Development Bank (AfDB), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union Commission (AUC) and Statistics South Africa are organizing the 9th African Symposium on Statistical Development (ASSD-9). The symposium will be held in Gaborone, Botswana, from February 17-21, 2014, with approximately 450 participants expected to attend from the Bank's 54 regional member countries (RMCs), pan-African institutions, UN agencies, the World Bank and bilateral agencies.

The ASSD provides a platform for all African statistical agencies, partners and statisticians to work together and discuss issues relating to statistical development in Africa. The overarching aim is to build the requisite capacity in RMCs for producing and utilizing the data and information necessary for MDGs monitoring and evidence-based decision-making. The theme for the 9th ASSD is: "Promoting the Use of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Support of Good Governance in Africa".

The Symposium will be preceded by two other meetings on February 16, 2014:

Meeting of the Heads of National Statistics Offices (NSOs) to discuss the progress made in implementing various statistical programs managed by AfDB and to agree on steps going forward. These programs include the Africa Information Highway (AIH), the Africa Infrastructure Knowledge Program (AIKP), the Action Plan for Improving Statistics for Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Africa, Statistical Business Registration (SBR), National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS), the International Comparison Program for Africa (ICP-Africa), Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Harmonized Consumer Price Index (HCPI); and,

Meeting of the African Statistical Journal Editorial Board to discuss the technical and production issues relating to the African Statistical Journal, which is managed by the AfDB.