Addis Ababa — The Eighth Meeting of the Forum on African Statistical Development (FASDev VIII) took place yesterday with member States at the end of the day calling on partners to increase financial support to member States, in line with priorities identified in their national strategies for the development of statistics.
Member States also encouraged partners to work with regional economic communities in statistical capacity-building, and to strengthen their support to African countries for the implementation and monitoring of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and Africa's Agenda 2063.
Pan-African institutions like the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) were urged to continue assisting African countries in their quest to enhance their capacity in respect of identification and mapping.
Discussions followed presentations by representatives of the African Development Bank (AfDB), World Bank and the Partnership in Statistics Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21) on the levels and trends of support to statistical development in Africa. Ethiopia and Senegal also presented their country reports.
The main objectives of FASDEV are to have an overview of statistical activities on the continent, including assistance, and training; set up a permanent system for the monitoring of statistical development in Africa; and strengthening modalities for cooperation with a view to leveraging on each partner's comparative advantage.
During proceedings, the level of support given to member States in the development of statistics was highlighted with the contributions of Ethiopia and Senegal being recognized.
Delegates discussed statistical development in Africa, including how they can make partner support more effective and efficient, among other issues.
All partners were commended for their continuous support to statistical development in Africa, including assistance to statistical training institutions. Particular mention went to the Governments of Sweden, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, in particular its Department for International Development, and Global Partnerships, for statistical capacity-building efforts in Africa.
The ECA, along with the AfDB, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were lauded for their commitment to statistical capacity-building and statistical production in Africa and support of national, regional and international development efforts.
And the PARIS21 secretariat was commended for its capacity-building efforts in the areas of coordination and monitoring, statistical advocacy, technical support, and technology awareness.
Mr. Tinfissi Joseph Ilboudo, Chief of the Statistical Development Section in the ECA's African Centre for Statistics (ACS), said he was elated by the high level of debate and commitment by member States and partners in discussing to how to up investment statistical development to support not only the full implementation of the SDG agenda but also Agenda 2063 and other national priorities.
"It is always encouraging to sit in a room with so many people with the same goal, in this case statistical development in Africa. We will continue as the ECA to play our part in this very important process," said Mr. Ilboudo.
Member States representatives, the United Nations Secretariat and agencies, AfDB, African statistical training centres, regional and sub-regional organizations, and bilateral and international institutions attended FASDEV VIII which preceded the sixth meeting of the Statistical Commission for Africa.
The ECA will organize the 2020 FASDEV meeting in close collaboration with the World Bank, AfDB, PARIS21, and other partners.
