C apacity B uilding for L abour S tatistics

1. UGANDA BUREAU OF STATISTICS Capacity Building for Labour Statistics By Prof. Ben Kiregyera ILO-PARIS21 Seminar (Geneva, 3 December 2003)

2. Introduction • Congratulate ILO and PARIS21 for organizing the seminar • Capacity for statistical data production in many countries especially in Sub-Saharan Africa is low and unsustainable • This has led to production of poor quality statistical data and information

3. II. Some lessons from country papers (Thailand, Bolivia, Mali) • there are two main agencies responsible for labour statistics • Ministry responsible for labour • National Statistical Office • main sources of labor statistics are: • administrative records • surveys (household and establishment) • Population and Housing Census • Labour statistics important for monitoring poverty (PRSP) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (Mali, Bolivia) • need to: • improve the quality of labour statistics • achieve synergy and cost-effectiveness in statistical production

4. III. Lessons from ILO and PARIS21 Papers • need tobuild sustainable capacity for production of labour statistics (ILO provides various types of assistance to countries) • labour statistics should be developed in the context of overall national statistical system (NSS) – cannot have good labour statistics in a weak NSS (ILO and other international agencies providing assistance) • effective national statistical development requires development and implementation of a National Statistical Development Strategy (PARIS21, World Bank, IMF, etc promoting development of national strategies for statistical development) • there is need to make optimal use of technical assistance in keeping with UN Guidelines on Technical Cooperation

5. IV. Strategic Plans/Statistical Master Plans A. Non-prescription for statistical under-development “do more of the same thing” “run faster – direction may be wrong” “take incremental steps to move the system from present position to desired future positions”

6. B. Prescription Strategic Management for • quantum leap • breakthrough performance & • enhanced value creation Strategic Management is “The art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organization achieve its objectives” Research shows that organizations using strategic management are more successful than those which do not

7. C. Need for a Strategic Plan/Statistical Master Plan • amechanism forstatistical advocacy • provideastrategic trajectorydefining where CSO should be five years from now • provides a ”road map” andmilestonesfor getting there • acomprehensive and unified frameworkfor assessing & meeting user needs • providesmechanisms for feedback & learning • provides aframework for mobilizing, harnessing and leveragingresources (both national and international) and energies • provides for the creation of quality awareness & enhancement 7

8. process as important as the Plan • process should be opportunity for statistical advocacy • process should be participatory and inclusive Leads to: • Plans that are country-specific and country-owned • Ownership, more commitment, creativity, imagination, innovation and productivity. • process should be “best-practice” compliant, taking into account such important considerations as: • user focus • synergy • effectiveness • efficiency. • Process involves review of Statistical Legislation • Process of designing the Plans

9. Plans should be based on: • a critical assessment of data gaps; • identification and prioritization of current and future user needs (market analysis, etc) • assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT); • build on the NSOs’ strengths • mitigate or eliminate the weaknesses • take advantage of the opportunities • avoid or reduce the impact of threats • modern management principles. • Plans should identify and prioritize • activities to be carried out, • required inputs, • outputs to be produced • outcomes or effects that are intended to be achieved in order to meet user needs especially for policy, decision-making and planning

10. E. Essentials of the Plans User needs Vision – What we want to be Mission – Why we exist Core values – What we believe in Strategy – Our game plan Balanced scorecard – Implementation and focus Business/Operational plans – What we need to do Personal objectives – What I need to do Strategic outcomes Staff Satisfaction Quality processes User satisfaction

11. F. Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation • ability to execute a Plan is more important than the quality of the Plan itself • arrangements for Plan implementation. • Arrangements for Plan monitoring, control, evaluation and feedback • Plan implementation in Africa has been less than satisfactory

12. Conclusions • need to build sustainable capacity for entire statistical process – assessing user needs, data collection, analysis, dissemination and use • need to develop statistics in a holistic manner • need for Statistical Plans/Master Plans • proper implementation and lesson learning Recommendation • ILO to assess to what extent labour sector catered for in existing Strategic Plans • PARIS21, ILO & other agencies to assess implementation of existing Plans

13. Thank You