29 May 2014: Participants in a UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) workshop highlighted the role of development statistics in providing evidence to structure Africa’s transformation. Participants stressed that statistics for development must be communicated in simple formats that can be understood and used by policy makers. The workshop on disseminating and communicating statistics took place in Niamey, Niger.

Communicating statistics is a different task than disseminating data, participants emphasized. They noted roles both for collection and sharing of data, as policy makers rely on such information to provide evidence for reform and shape policies. Participants recognized UNECA’s role in “[telling] the story behind the numbers” and capitalizing on data to “plead the case for Africa’s transformation.”

Participants – including experts from 14 African countries – called on African governments and development partners to harmonize data collection tools and methods at the national level, and suggested AFRISTAT play a role in harmonizing database tools used by National Statistics Offices.

The UN Statistics Division (UNSD), UNECA’s Sub-regional Office for West Africa, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Niger National Statistics Office organized the meeting. [UNECA Press Release] [African Centre for Statistics] [AFRISTAT Website (in French)