Fakhoury reviews progress, plans of statistics department

AMMAN — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury on Wednesday stressed the need to enhance the independence, transparency and professionalism of the Department of Statistics (DOS), according to a statement from the ministry.

During a meeting with the advisory committee of statistics, Fakhoury emphasised the importance of raising citizens’ awareness of statistics and their cooperation with the surveyors, in order to improve the quality of collected data which constitute the base of development policies drafting.

The committee undertakes the advisory functions related to reviewing the department’s annual plans and submitting proposals that contribute to the strategic planning and policies related to the statistical work in the Kingdom.

The minister called on the department’s officials to keep up with the international developments in the field, especially for statistics related to labour, poverty and unemployment.

Regarding the census to be implemented next year, Fakhoury highlighted the importance of unifying classification of economic facilities in the public and the private sectors, noting that a technical committee will be formed to come up with recommendations. 

In the past few years, the DoS has witnessed a qualitative leap in the performance of its statistical mission, which has enhanced its role in the collection and dissemination of statistical data at the regional level.

Fakhoury noted that the department is currently part of a working group preparing a UN manual for the implementation of electronic censuses, and has received international awards for the use of modern technologies, especially with regards to the Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

The minister referred to the voluntary report presented by Jordan for sustainable development goals and the need to continue building the department’s capacity to keep abreast of global developments, which requires measuring and monitoring 231 indicators for 186 targets in which the world countries compete.

Fakhoury highlighted the ongoing work to develop a national statistical strategy for the years 2018-2022 focusing on the decentralisation.

The strategy aims to raise the institutional capabilities of the statistical departments and units in national institutions and to improve the quality of the data. 

The DoS will oversee the capacity building programme for human resources and coordinate these efforts in cooperation with the concerned international institutions to ensure their integration within the National Statistics Strategy, and to assist in achieving the objectives of the Jordan 2025 Document and the Executive Development Programme, which is being updated for the years 2016-2020, Stimulating the Jordanian Economy Plan, the government’s executive plan and sustainable development goals 2030.

For his part, the director general of the Department of Statistics and Deputy Chairman of the Advisory Committee Qassem Saeed Zu’bi outlined the changes in the department’s work after the experiment of the General Population and Housing Census 2015.

He stressed the DoS’ readiness to implement the economic facilities census at the beginning of next year and any other future plans.