TANZANIA has been appointed one of the 24 countries in the world to form the United Nations Statistical Commission.
In a nutshell, the Commission, established in 1947, is the highest body of the global statistical system bringing together the Chief Statisticians from member states from around the world. It is the highest decision-making body for international statistical activities, responsible for setting of statistical standards and the development of concepts and methods, including their implementation at the national and international level.
This was stated here by the government Statistician General, Dr Albina Chuwa, when opening a National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) staff meeting.
She said that the new development comes after Tanzania completed its term as chair of the African Statistics Commission which it held for two consecutive terms.
Dr Chuwa said that being nominated to join the countries was a great success contributed by the political will of the sixth phase government in issues related to statistical matters.
“Tanzania has been appointed to join the United Nations Statistical Commission for a period of four years starting 2024, and, this is one of the 24 countries in the world that make up the commission, and this success is due to the political will by the sixth phase government in terms of statistical matters,” she said.
Dr Chuwa also congratulated the government through the Ministry of Finance and Planning for approving the second plan to strengthen and improve statistics in the country, where its implementation will reduce the costs of conducting various studies in the future.
She explained that the programme is funded by the government in collaboration with the World Bank (WB) and other development stakeholders to improve the production and distribution of official statistics in the country, especially administrative statistics through ministries, departments and government institutions.
“In implementing this plan, stakeholders from the public and private sector will be empowered through the short and long-term training, including building and strengthening the statistical infrastructure,” she explained.
On his part, the Deputy Minister for Finance and Planning, Hamad Chande, asked the NBS staff to be honest in the entire process of data production, especially when collecting, processing, interpreting and reporting the data.
“Let us be patient because statistical tasks are difficult, they require time and a calm mind, so let’s be patient with what we get for the wider interest of our nation without putting the nation at a loss,” he emphasised.
In another development, the Deputy Minister asked the NBS staff to broaden their knowledge whenever they secure such an opportunity within and outside the country.
Mr Chande said that the sixth phase government led by President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been recognising the great contribution of workers in bringing about the country’s development and production of goods and the provision of services to the community.
He noted that the mission of the government is to continue improving and strengthening employees’ welfare and create a better working environment for them so that they can produce and provide better services for their own development and the nation in general.
