Statistics against poverty

Statistics Norway has entered into a comprehensive collaboration with the African country of Angola as the result of NORAD's recent grant of NOK 25 million to the Angolan national statistical agency. NORAD has also tasked Statistics Norway with developing a statistical and information system for public and private aid efforts. "Among other things, the system is intended to guarantee better information about the effectiveness of aid funds," says Wold.

Various international organisations, such as the UN Statistical Commission and the OECD Development Assistance Committee, work to improve international comparable statistics in the developing countries. Among other things, this involves giving support to countries to enable them to compile statistics in areas such as poverty, health (child and maternal mortality and reproductive health), education, the environment and gender equality. "More comprehensive statistics can tell us something about developments in the country and provide specific data on social disparities as a point of departure for reducing Third World poverty," says Wold.

"Statistician bridge" between industrial and developing countries

After gaining independence in 1975, Angola has been beset by civil war and unrest in the last decades. "Statistics Norway will provide support for developing and enhancing statistics and serve as consultants to ensure that the authorities and other users in the country get the information and statistics they need," says Wold.
"One challenge is to do a comprehensive survey of formal companies as well as the vast number of self-employed persons. The country needs more information on what it produces so that more can be done to support the production and sale of goods and services. For instance, we will look at what is needed to better enable the farmers in the countryside to produce goods for sale to the cities. Viewed overall, a survey of this type will help the country to draw up more accurate national accounts.

Like Norway, Angola is rich in natural resources such as oil, and Wold believes that the Angolans can benefit from Statistics Norway's experience in compiling statistics on oil production. "Of course there is a delicate balance between the information the oil companies are willing to provide for competitive reasons and the benefits they can derive from information about and an overview of total oil production.

"What can you say about the risk of 'playing the government's statistical game' in countries split between the authorities and rebel movements?"

"In Angola this is an especially important topic for agricultural and social statistics. But amazingly enough the country has managed to walk a tightrope. The statistical agency has for all these years been in contact with the UNITA rebel movement to obtain permission to collect data, for instance, the important household survey was also carried out in UNITA-controlled provinces," says Wold. "Otherwise Statistics Norway actively supports the UN Statistical Commission's recommended principles, which underscore how important it is that a statistical agency be professionally independent of the authorities. Our clear recommendations are to let professional evaluations govern prioritising among various statistical areas and let professional requirements govern when and how statistics are to be made public. So it is up to the country in question to decide. If it seems to us obvious that political decisions are behind resource priorities or publication policy, we will take this up with the contracting authority and NORAD and/or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If necessary we will pull out."

Besides Statistics Norway's new commitment to Angola, the International Consulting Division has also been involved in a number of other countries. "For many years we have been working with and advising the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, and we are present in Mozambique together with Statistics Sweden. In both countries Statistics Norway is working in many areas of statistics, such as economic, social, and environmental statistics and the creation of various registers. In other countries we enter into more limited collaboration, such as in China, where we are providing support for developing statistics on atmospheric emissions," Wold concludes.

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