Press Release
ECE/STAT/00/6
Geneva, 27 June 2000
Copenhagen Plus Five: Can We Afford Doing Without Measurement and
Figures?
27 June 2000, 10 a.m., Centre international de conférences, Geneva
"Five years after Copenhagen it seems that
political statements often replace facts and figures" states Danuta Huebner,
Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE).
"We cannot afford designing and evaluating policies without the firm footing provided
by statistics. In both developed and developing regions there are few examples of
countries making systematic use of statistics in order to monitor and evaluate the changes
in poverty."
"It is as if a doctor, after having diagnosed an illness and
prescribed a cure, lost all interest in his patient, with no subsequent analysis to check
if the cure has been successful" comments Danuta Huebner.
There is general consensus that statistical analysis is essential for
designing and successfully implementing policies. How can we make sure that after Geneva
2000 more use will be made of statistics to monitor social progress and assess the
implementation of the Copenhagen commitments?
To answer this question the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe’s (UN/ECE) Statistical Division organizes a seminar for 27 June 2000
within the Geneva 2000 Forum, which will be held alongside the Assembly’s
Special Session.
The seminar provides an opportunity for a debate between the
statistical community and its main interlocutors – policy-makers, the media and NGOs.
Much work remains for statisticians to improve the quality of social monitoring. In
government statistics there is an imbalance in priorities and resources: social statistics
are still the Cinderella in the supply of public data. Moreover there are many
difficulties on how to define and measure some of the concepts linked to social
development. Poverty is an example. Thus, in a wealthy country like the UK, poverty
was estimated, by one statistical agency, to be 33 per cent. Another international agency,
using quite different methods, arrived at estimates for developing countries well below
this: for instance, 18 per cent in Mongolia, 19 per cent in South Africa (whose own
estimate is about 40 per cent). It is not a question of being right or wrong, but rather a
matter of non-harmonized definitions and methods.
Progress has been made identifying the factors and the conditions for
successful development policies. However scientific concepts have to be translated into
agreed statistical definitions, which can be used for measurement purposes.
Statistics can be of great help for the effectiveness and the
credibility of policies to alleviate poverty and social exclusion.
"It is time to include statisticians in the process of monitoring
and evaluating policies for social development" says Mr. Paolo Garonna, Director of
the UN/ECE Statistical Division. "Their scientific contribution is indispensable if
evaluation is to be put on a firmer footing. The institutional framework of national
statistical agencies must be strengthened to guarantee their credibility and independence.
Above all, they need adequate resources. Social measurement is not a free good, but the
cost of non-measurement is much too high both in economic and in human terms for not
investing in effective and accountable policies."
For further information, please contact:
Mr. Paolo Garonna, Director
Statistical Division
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE)
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Telephone: (+41 22) 917 41 44
Fax: (+41 22) 917 00 40
E-mail: [email protected]
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