Page 152 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 1

IPS124 Misha B. et al.

Role of ISI, and Statistical Societies in Measuring
SDGs
2
1
Misha V. Belkindas , Alexey N. Ponomarenko
1 ODW Consulting, Rockville MD, USA
2 Russian Statistical Association, Moscow, Russian Federation

Abstract
The data revolution and adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) gave a new impetus for the development of the national statistical
systems. Currently the statistical institutions around the world are working on
developing methodologies and conducting new surveys gearing up to better
use of administrative records and private sector data for estimation of SDG
indicators. This situation requires the larger efforts both from international
community as well as from domestic institutions. External support may come
from international organizations and other donors in the form of funds or,
more importantly, technical assistance. International organizations are
responsible for developing standard methodologies and they should provide
assistance but this is not enough. Assistance may come from several
alternative constituencies from the public sector (statistical agencies in
developed countries) and the private sector (statistical consulting companies
and individual consultants). As a part of statistical system, NGOs with statistical
backgrounds also play their role. International NGOs, such as the International
Statistical Institute (ISI), provide a network for professional communication for
all interested participants using various events (conferences, seminars and
webinars, etc.) as well as journals and websites for publication of related
discussion papers. At the national level, the composition of statistical systems
and functions of different participants in measuring SDGs may vary. It depends
on each country’s legislation, traditions, and other factors. In many countries,
official statistical services play a key, if not an exclusive, role in SDGs
measurement using support from the international agencies to solve the
methodological problems and shortage of funds. In the case of the SDGs, this
scheme may not work very effectively because even international agencies
can't provide all necessary support due to ongoing methodological
discussions. To solve the problem of measuring SDGs, members of national
statistical systems need to act in the same way as their partners at the
international level, that is, combine the efforts of official bodies, academia,
private business and NGOs.

Keywords
data revolution; statistical capacity building; public private partnerships;
NGO’s; private sector

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