Resolutions of the 11th Africa Symposium on Statistical Development

Libreville, Gabon, 23-25 November 2015

1. We, the representatives of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and Civil Registration Authorities (CRAs) of African States, supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the government of South Africa, and other development partners, gathered in Libreville, Gabon from 23 to 25 November 2015 during the 10^thAfrica Symposium on Statistical Development (ASSD,) under the theme “Promoting use of Information and Communication Technology solutions in improving CRVS in Africa”;
2. Appreciating the Government of Republic of Gabon’s successful hosting of the 11^th ASSD and the hospitality of its people;
3. Recognizing the importance of Information and Communication Technology solutions in improving CRVS in Africa;
4. Noting the resolutions of the forum of Chairpersons of African Statistics Councils/Boards adopted at their meeting held in Libreville on 20 November 2015;
5. Appreciating the launch of the ‘CRVS Digitization Handbook’ which will serve as a guiding tool for development of digitized CRVS systems in African countries and beyond;
6. Appreciating the ambitious five-year costed CRVS strategic plan prepared by the AfDB and ECA in collaboration with Statistics South Africa;
7. Appreciating the development of the five-year Strategy on Improving Mortality Statistics developed by WHO, ECA and ASSD for systematically implement a system death registration and causes of death
8. Encouraged by the overall progress made in the African statistics system over time traced in the book titled “The emerging data revolution in Africa: Strengthening the statistics, policy and decision-making chain” launched during the 10^th ASSD, the unprecedented population census coverage recorded in the African continent in the 2010 round of population and housing censuses and the progress made in the implementation of the APAI-CRVS programme since its inception in 2010;
9. Spurred by the global emerging data revolution trend and the contribution that Africa continues to play in this regard as well as in the emerging post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals;
10. Driven by the mandate to provide statistics to monitor the Agenda 2063 vision;
11. Appreciating the need to improve the African continent’s capability and capacity to increase the coverage of the African population in the 2020 round of population and housing censuses;
12. Motivated by the increasing need for statistical data to monitor and evaluate the implementation of African Union’s vision 2063 on the backdrop of the post-2015 development agenda;
13. Noting with appreciation, the initiative by the AfDB; UNSD and StatCan in collaboration with AUC, ECA and Eurostat; to hold the Africa Conference on Transformative Agenda on Official in support of the Africa Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
14. Concerned about the increasing weakening of the working relationships among the Pan-African institutions;
15. Concerned that Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data has since been launched outside the recommendations of the IEAG and in exclusion of countries and key stakeholders within the national statistics systems, National Statistics Organisations, Regional Statistics Systems, United Nations Statistics Division and the United Nations Statistics Commission;

RESOLUTIONS

1. The Independent Expert Advisory Group (IEAG) recommended that a UN-led Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data be established to mobilise and coordinate the actions and institutions that are required for data revolution to serve sustainable development. The African Statistics Community is concerned that Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data has since been launched outside the recommendations of the IEAG and in exclusion of countries and key stakeholders within the national statistics systems, National Statistics Organisations, Regional Statistics Systems, United Nations Statistics Division and the United Nations Statistics Commission. The African Statistics Community, therefore, petitions the United Nations Secretary-General to establish a Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data consistent with the recommendations of the IEAG.
2. We will send a deputation comprising the Chairperson of the ASSD, the Chairperson of the Forum of Statistics Councils/ Boards and the chairperson of the African Statistical Commission to meet with the President of the African Development Bank, the Executive Secretary of the ECA and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission to seek their interventions to:
   1. Strengthen their statistical capacities to be able to effectively assist member States to meet needs for data to monitor and report on Africa Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals;
   2. Resolve the issue of the continuing absence of substantive leadership of the African Centre for Statistics at UNECA;
   3. Strengthen the APAI-CRVS Secretariat given the important role by the Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration to the pan African Institutions to ensure that the CRVS Decade is successful;
3. We urge National Statistical Offices through the coordination of the Pan African Institutions to be at the centre of monitoring and evaluating the Agenda 2063 vision and the Sustainable Development Goals;
4. We shall stablish a Committee of Civil Registrars at the continental level to meet regularly to monitor the implementation of the APAI-CRVS programmes;
5.  We shall review the Technical Strategy on Improving Mortality Statistics in Africa (2016-2020) and thereafter take steps to implement the same through CRVS planning processes, Censuses and Surveys;
6.  We embrace the CRVS Digitization Handbook for planning, designing and implementing the digitized CRVS systems in Africa in light of the ongoing position on civil status;
7.  We shall establish a mechanism to regularly measure the completeness of vital events (particularly birth and death) at all levels of hierarchy based on CRVS system so as to manage the performance of the system;
8.  We shall establish a working group to define criteria and scope of centres of excellence in ICT-enabled mapping and data production, analysis, dissemination and management that cater to the specific needs of countries for the successful implementation of the CRVS strategy and the 2020 round of censuses in rollout countries in support of the Africa Agenda 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals consistent with SHaSA priorities;
9.  We shall create a ShaSA group on Information and Communication Technology;
10.  We adopt Economic Statistics and in particular national accounts as the focus for the next five ASSDs covering the period 2016-2020;
11.  We shall formulate a programme for transformative agenda for official statistics in Africa, with the objective of strengthening national statistical systems based on a common statistical business architecture;
12.  We agree to treat the National Strategies for the Development of Statistics, which many African countries are designing and implementing, as the framework for delivering the transformative agenda and SHaSA at country level nested in the National Development Plans; and request Pan-African institutions with development partners to take this forward starting in 2016 and report back to the next ASSD, StatCom- Africa/CoDG and the UN Statistical Commission through United Nations Statistics Division.