Overview

Established in November 1999 in response to the UN Economic and Social Council resolution on the goals of the UN Conference on Development, the Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21) was launched to act as a catalyst for promoting a culture of evidence-based policymaking and monitoring in all countries, and especially in developing countries. The PARIS21 Consortium is a partnership of policymakers, analysts, and statisticians from all countries of the world. The focus is on promoting high-quality statistics, making these data meaningful, and designing sound policies. The role of PARIS21 is to foster more effective dialogue among those who produce development statistics and those who use them.

PARIS21 is serviced by a small secretariat hosted by the Development Co-operation Directorate in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France. The strategic direction of the Partnership as well as the general work programme of the Secretariat is guided by the PARIS21 Board, which includes representatives from all the main stakeholders, from developing countries from all regions of the world, as well as from bilateral donors, international organisations, and the partnership’s founding institutions (the OECD, World Bank, United Nations, International Monetary Fund, and the European Commission).

Statistical Activities

The principal objective assigned to the PARIS21 Secretariat is to assist low-income countries in the design, implementation, and monitoring of a National Strategy for Development of Statistics (NSDS), which would serve as the basis for results-based management.
To meet this objective, PARIS21 has organised its activities around the following work streams (collectively abbreviated as “CANK”):

• Coordination of stakeholders to better address an evolving agenda. This work stream includes producing the Partner Report on the Support to Statistics (PRESS), which collects and analyses information on support to statistical development in developing countries from financial and technical partners
• Advocacy for increased use and development of statistics.
• Promoting better-quality and effectively implemented NSDSs. PARIS21 works directly with countries throughout Africa, the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean by providing methodological advice, promoting the establishment of national (country–donor) partnerships, and facilitating the mobilisation of technical and financial resources.
• Improving Knowledge for Statistics, by stimulating increased demand for and better use of data. This component involves the work of the International Household Survey Network (IHSN) and the Accelerated Data Program (ADP), which are partnerships with the World Bank and with the active participation of many other international partners. Both programmes foster improvements in the documentation, archiving, harmonisation, availability, accessibility, and quality of survey micro-data.

 
Validated November 2010