Multiple global challenges are experienced acutely by the people living in the Horn of Africa region. Climate change impacts, food insecurity, and fragility affect daily lives in a number of ways and make sustainable development challenging and difficult to monitor. To address this, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) was created to address regional priorities including economic integration, food security, climate resilience, peace and security, migration, trade, and sustainable development. Reflecting the growing recognition that the region’s development challenges are interconnected and require coordinated regional responses supported by strong evidence systems.
To support its mission and address these regional challenges, IGAD needs to develop and support systems that can produce high-quality regional statistics which are increasingly critical for addressing emerging challenges facing the IGAD region. IGAD’s vision is to achieve a resilient, peaceful, prosperous, and integrated region where citizens enjoy a high quality of life, while its mission is to promote regional cooperation and integration in support of peace, security, and sustainable development. In support of this mandate,
IGAD, in collaboration with PARIS21, the African Union Commission (AUC), STATAFRIC, and development partners, developed the Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics (RSDS) has initiated the development of the Second Regional Statistical Development Strategy (RSDS II) for the period 2026–2030. The new strategy seeks to respond to emerging regional and continental priorities including digital transformation, interoperability, administrative data systems, geospatial integration, climate and resilience statistics, gender statistics, and integrated regional data ecosystems. It is also aligned with IGAD’s strategic priorities, National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDSs), SHaSA II and the forthcoming SHaSA III, Agenda 2063, the SDGs, and evolving international statistical standards.
To support this process, IGAD has established a Working Group of RSDS Coordinators drawn from national statistical systems (NSSs) across Member States to provide technical guidance and strengthen alignment between national and regional statistical priorities. The development of RSDS II is being undertaken through a comprehensive and participatory process involving regional assessments, stakeholder consultations, Member State questionnaires, institutional reviews, and validation exercises.
The regional workshop provides an important platform for Member States, regional institutions, continental organisations, and development partners to validate the findings of the regional statistical system assessment and review the draft RSDS II strategic framework. The workshop was also an opportunity to discuss priority regional statistical gaps, how to align regional statistical priorities with national strategies for the development of statistics, ensure consistency with SHaSA2 and alignment with the anticipated SHaSA3. draft a results framework and priority regional statistical programmes and discuss governance and financing arrangements for RSDS implementation.
From 11–15 August in Mombasa, Kenya, IGAD Member States came together to finalise the second Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics (RSDS II) 2026–2030 – a shared framework for strengthening regional statistics over the next five years.
RSDS II responds to some of the region’s most pressing statistical challenges, from coordination and financing to modernisation and the use of new data sources. Its five strategic pillars also place greater emphasis on digital transformation and innovation, as well as gender, inclusion and resilience. Directors General of National Statistical Offices and RSDS Coordinators worked with the IGAD Secretariat, African Union Institute for Statistics - STATAFRIC, PARIS21, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank Group and UN Womenen to validate the strategy and define how it will be implemented, financed, monitored and aligned with national statistical strategies.
For PARIS21, the Mombasa workshop builds on our support to the RSDS process, including the first regional workshop in Entebbe in May, where countries agreed on the strategy’s vision: “An Integrated IGAD Regional Statistical System for sustainable development.” The next step is putting that vision into practice – aligning regional and national priorities and translating the strategy into concrete actions across the IGAD region.
