Training Workshop on Quality of Statistics for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the Asia-Pacific Region

Quality data are vital for enabling governments, international organizations, civil society, private sector and the general public to make informed decisions and to ensure the accountability of representative bodies. Effective planning, follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires the collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of an unprecedented amount of data and statistics at local, national, regional and global levels and by multiple stakeholders. Achieving and maintaining public trust in official statistics requires that those statistics are produced in an objective, transparent and professionally independent manner. The statistical quality framework and quality review processes help promoting data quality. The United Nations Statistical Commission based on these considerations and other important principles established a set of Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics in 1994. These principles were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2014. Many countries around the world have established a national code of practice or a national quality assurance framework for official statistics (NQAF) to capture those principles and best practices, and to safeguard public trust. In 2019, the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) adopted the United Nations National Quality Assurance Frameworks Manual for Official Statistics (Manual) that has been developed by the Expert Group on National Quality Assurance Frameworks. 1 It supports countries in the development and implementation of a national quality assurance framework (NQAF) throughout their national statistical systems. It contains recommendations, an updated quality assurance framework and implementation guidance, including for the quality assurance of SDG indicator data and statistics and when different data sources are used. In addition, in 2023, the Commission endorsed a roadmap for the development and implementation of a national quality assurance framework.2 The 2030 Agenda explicitly calls for enhancing capacity building to support national plans to implement the sustainable development goals. The workshop will provide an opportunity to participants to learn basic concepts and frameworks on quality related to statistics, through handson sessions, with an overall aim to strengthen the capacity to produce a set of official statistics, including indicators, to track and monitor SDGs.