Experts to discuss ways to improve statistical monitoring of Millennium Development Goals

The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) constitute a valuable opportunity to improve the living conditions of people in Latin America and the Caribbean. But they also pose challenges to producing the statistical information necessary to monitor advances and achievements.

To address this need, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in collaboration with the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) and Colombia's National Statistics Department (DANE), will hold the regional seminar "Statistical and Institutional Challenges to Monitoring the Millennium Development Goals in Latin America and Caribbean Countries," on 27 and 28 November 2007 in Bogotá (DANE Conference Hall, Cra. 59 No. 26-70 Int. 1 CAN).

The meeting will bring together, for the first time, directors of National Statistics Offices from around the region, the authorities responsible for MDG National Reports, and representatives of international agencies.

The seminar aims to deepen discussion of the statistical aspects of monitoring progress on MDG commitments. Participants will update the state of information availability and use for MDG follow-up in the region. They will also examine the reasons behind gaps and discrepancies in the values of indicators from national sources and from international organizations; how to increase coordination between these; and how to strengthen inter-institutional connections within the countries themselves.

Seven years after the Millennium Goals were adopted, the region still faces institutional and statistical challenges to monitoring their progress. The Statistical Conference of the Americas has responded to this by creating a working group on this issue. For its part, from 2005 to 2007, ECLAC has conducted the project "Strengthening the Capacity of Latin American and Caribbean Countries to Monitor Fulfillment of Millennium Development Goals," which will continue with IDB support in 2008.