19 June 2015: The Praia Group on Governance Statistics met for the first time in Cabo Verde from 17-19 June 2015 to discuss the conceptualization, methodology and instruments for producing statistics related to governance, peace and security, relevant to Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Statistical Commission of the Economic and Social Council of the UN (ECOSOC) established the Praia Group in March 2015, noting that governance statistics are a “new domain” of official statistics, which help ensure the relationship between the State and its citizenry is transparent and accountable.

The group is named after the capital of Cabo Verde, which hosted the first meeting. At the June 2015 meeting, members discussed priorities and members’ experiences, and prepared the group’s 2016-2020 roadmap for presentation to the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC). The group aims to develop a handbook on governance statistics for national statistical offices. The contact email of the group is group.praia@ine.gov.cv.

Official development assistance (ODA) for statistics fell in 2013 from previous years, according to the 2015 report of PARIS21, the Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century. In its September 2015 Partner Report on Support to Statistics (PRESS 2015), the partnership reported that support to statistics reached US$ 448 million in 2013, a decrease of US$ 120 million from 2011 and 2012 levels. While 2013 saw the highest levels of ODA ever recorded, the share of ODA for statistics fell from 0.33% in 2011 and 2012 to 0.24% in 2013. In that year, the world’s top five providers of development cooperation for statistics were the World Bank, EUROSTAT, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN (FAO), and the United Kingdom (UK), who provided 65% of total ODA support for statistics in 2013.

PARIS21 said the trend of falling support for statistics places SDG monitoring at risk.

PARIS21 was founded in November 1999 by the UN, the European Commission (EC), the OECD, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as a forum and network to promote, influence and facilitate statistical capacity development and the better use of statistics for reducing poverty and improving governance. The secretariat of the partnership is hosted at the OECD in Paris, France. [Praia Group on Governance Statistics] [UN Statistical Commission Website] [PARIS 21 Website] [PARIS21 Web Page on PRESS 2015] [PRESS 2015]