ECASTAT

ECASTAT’s overall objective is to address the capacity and financial constraints of the statistical systems of the countries in the region. ECASTAT will support the long-term process of improving development outcomes by strengthening the production of reliable and relevant data on a timely basis for evidence-based decision making at all levels of government in Eastern Europe and the CIS region.

In particular, the ECASTAT aims to:

• Substantially increase resources for implementing country-owned national statistical plans and strategies;
• Explicitly link improvements in the statistical system to the needs of national and sectoral monitoring frameworks and promote improvements in the national dialogue and partnership between statistics users and statistical producers;
• Deliver efficient and effective aid and technical assistance to strengthen statistical systems and results measurement through coordination and alignment of national statistical plans, capacity building activities and training;
• Increase skills and competencies in statistics in the Eastern European and CIS region by supporting regional training of staff in statistical systems;
• Support and develop the use of statistics throughout the region by making statistics and data more accessible to users.

In line with the 2004 Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics (MAPS), previous assistance to the ECA region has focused on mainstreaming strategic planning in statistics and in helping countries to prepare National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) or their equivalent. Through a number of interventions including support from the World Bank’s Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building (TFSCB), and the European Union and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), almost all Eastern and CIS countries now have a NSDS in place or have started the process of preparing one. Some of the countries have started the NSDS implementation. ECASTAT will build on lessons learned and past successes in statistical capacity development. It places countries at the center of the process and aims to align its support for the development of statistical capacity with country priorities and national objectives. In particular, the approach to be used by ECASTAT will emphasize:

Ownership: Countries take the leadership in their statistical capacity improvement activities and determine their needs, development strategies for statistics and actively coordinate development actions;

Alignment: Support is aligned with the countries’ national statistical development strategies, institutions and procedures;

Harmonizing: Support is harmonized through well-coordinated efforts with other donors and organizations;

Managing for results: Resources are used for improving evidence based decision-making and should generate measurable results.