Heads of statistics from countries in the Americas signed today in Ecuador a declaration in which they reaffirm their commitment to generating good-quality statistics for monitoring national public policies and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, approved by 193 countries at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Additionally, they coincide on the need to take advantage of administrative records and other non-traditional information sources, as well as to develop metrics that go beyond traditional paradigms of measurement with the aim of using them to design and evaluate public policies in the framework of the 2030 Agenda, which sets 17 goals and 169 targets, among them the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, the reduction of inequality and the fight against climate change.

This is what was stated in the Mitad del Mundo Declaration that was approved today by 36 delegations from member States and associate members of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) at the end of the eighth meeting of the Statistical Conference of the Americas (SCA), the main forum for debating the development of statistics in the region, which was held on November 17-19 at the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

The declaration also urges the region’s governments to bolster their commitment to strengthening national statistical systems, establishing legal frameworks that provide professional independence to the national statistical offices, consolidate the leading role of official statistics and guarantee the human, technological and financial resources required. The text also calls on the international community to channel resources to this end, on the basis of cooperation, technical assistance and financial support. 

During the meeting that ended today the countries also approved the resolutions of the eighth meeting of the Statistical Conference of the Americas, in which they recognize the need to work jointly to design an implementation plan that enables the information requirements stemming from the 2030 Agenda to be covered gradually.

Additionally, the delegates recognized the importance of this regional space for statistical follow-up of the 2030 Agenda and highlighted that the Conference is the proper intergovernmental body for this role. They also expressed appreciation for the work done by the region’s countries that belong to the two working groups of the United Nations Statistical Commission related to this matter, one of them dedicated to analyzing the indicators that will be used to measure progress and another on follow-up activities for the agenda.

They also stressed the importance of using geospatial information for the measurement and monitoring of the 2030 Agenda and requested that the secretariat, which ECLAC holds, prepare a proposal to be incorporated into the work of the SCA.

Furthermore, the countries reviewed the progress made on the activities of the different working groups and approved the Classification of Time-Use Activities for Latin America (CAUTAL), with a gender approach and suited to the region’s context, which was presented at this meeting.

Participants also approved both the report on the implementation of the two-year program for regional and international cooperation activities in 2014-2015 and the Conference’s 2015-2025 Strategic Plan. They requested that ECLAC make a proposal for a regional program that meets the member States’ needs in terms of training and statistical education.

In addition, the attendees agreed that the SCA’s Executive Committee for the 2016-2017 period will be made up of Mexico in the presidency, along with Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Spain and Uruguay.

The eighth meeting of the SCA, a subsidiary body of ECLAC, was organized by this United Nations regional commission in conjunction with the government of Ecuador, through the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC). The event, inaugurated by the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, and ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, was also attended by representatives from 18 United Nations organizations.

More information at:

▪ Web site of the Eighth Meeting of ECLAC’s Statistical Conference of the Americas.

▪ Declaration and resolutions.

▪ Photo gallery.