PARIS21 focuses its efforts on encouraging and assisting all low-income and lower middle income countries to design, implement, and monitor National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) and to have nationally owned and produced data for all MDG indicators. Countries need to have an overall vision of the development of their national statistical system which will include the national, regional, and international needs; be part of the country development and poverty reduction policy; serve as a framework for international and bilateral assistance; include all parts of the data production units and address the issues related to the analysis and use of data; follow the international standards including quality; and build on all past and existing activities and experiences.
An NSDS is expected to provide a country with a strategy for developing statistical capacity across the entire national statistical system (NSS). The NSDS will provide a vision for where the NSS should be in five to ten years and will set milestones for getting there. It will present a comprehensive and unified framework for continual assessment of evolving user needs and priorities for statistics and for building the capacity needed to meet these needs in a more coordinated, synergistic and efficient manner. It will also provide a framework for mobilising, harnessing, and leveraging resources (both national and international) and a basis for effective and results-oriented strategic management of the NSS.
PARIS21 is currently updating the NSDS guidance to enrich the materials with experiences gained over the past several years. A booklet -- NSDS Approach In A Nutshell -- is currently available in English, French, and Spanish.
To consult PARIS21 guidance and methodological materials on NSDS and related topics, browse the Knowledge Base. To view information on rolling out the NSDS approach in countries and regions, click on the Where We Work tab.