ECLAC Implements New Project to Improve
Millennium Statistics

In order to make progress in producing updated statistics for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that would be comparable at the regional and global levels, ECLAC has this year begun to implement a two-year interregional project funded by the United Nations Development Account.

The emphasis will be on strengthening countries’ statistical capacities to produce disaggregated and reliable MDG data, reduce discrepancies between national and international sources and strengthen the regional MDG network to improve programmes and policymaking.

The project “Strengthening statistical and inter-institutional capacities for monitoring the Millennium Development Goals through interregional cooperation and knowledge-sharing” will be implemented with the other four United Nations regional commissions: for Asia-Pacific (ESCAP), Africa (ECA), Europe (UNECE) and Arab countries (ESCWA).

The main activities planned include the organization of an interregional meeting in January 2012, which will be attended by delegates from all regional commissions, experts from specialized international agencies and representatives from some national statistics offices from all continents.

The purpose of the meeting is to share successful experiences in terms of MDG monitoring in order to promote horizontal cooperation among various world countries.

The project also involves the organization this year of a meeting for representatives from statistics institutes and agencies responsible for producing national MDG reports in Latin American and Caribbean countries.  The meeting will provide continuity and a chance for carry on discussions that began in four regional workshops held previously on statistical aspects of monitoring MDG, thereby promoting inter-agency coordination within countries.

There are also plans for training workshops, technical assistance missions and horizontal cooperation activities among countries, as well as the drafting of reports on good practice and methodological documents for the monitoring of Millennium Development Goals.

Improvements will be made to the MDG database maintained as part of the ECLAC statistical website, not only in terms of geographical and time coverage, but also user interaction, to make browsing more user-friendly and to provide rapid access to information on countries’ progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Lastly, there are plan to improve the dissemination of existing indicators and statistics, both for specialized users and the general public, as well as strengthening national statistical systems (particularly in terms of more effective monitoring of progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015).

It is hoped that the involvement of national, regional and international stakeholders will increase the long-term impact of the project by improving various statistical capacities and supporting the implementation of sustainable development strategies in the region.