Expert Group Meeting on Priorities, Strategies and Designs for Statistical Training on Indicators for Monitoring MDG Progress SIAP, 17 June 2010)

ESCAP in collaboration with the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) is organizing the Expert Group Meeting on Priorities and Designs for Statistical Training on Indicators for Monitoring MDG Progress from 2011 to 2015. The systematic measuring of progress in achieving the MDGs at global, regional, national and sub-national levels over the years has revealed serious weaknesses and gaps in data and statistics needed for compiling the indicators. Inadequate data collection programmes, lack of technical capacity, and weak statistical systems and institutional coordination were identified as key areas where statistical capacity building was needed. The urgent needs for monitoring MDG progress gave a much needed impetus for prioritising and providing resources for improving capacities of statistical institutions to provide quality data. In particular, training of statisticians, data users and analysts tasked with preparing national MDG progress reports has played a crucial role in introducing and developing a common understanding of the goals, targets and indicators, increasing capacity in the quantitative requirements and methods for assessing progress and strengthening the institutional coordination mechanisms needed for producing statistics for and analysing development indicators. For more information please contact: sridamaw@un.org