Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations
Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations
National Statistics Office of Mongolia, Government of Mongolia
Director-General for Policy Planning on Statistical Policy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of theGovernment of Japan

Training Workshop on Quality of Statistics for Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) for the Asia-Pacific Region
23 – 25 September 2024
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Concept Note
Quality data are vital for enabling governments, international organizations, civil society, private
sector and the general public to make informed decisions and to ensure the accountability ofrepresentative bodies. Effective planning, follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development requires the collection, processing, analysis anddissemination of an unprecedented amount of data and statistics at local, national, regional andglobal levels and by multiple stakeholders.
Achieving and maintaining public trust in official statistics requires that those statistics areproduced in an objective, transparent and professionally independent manner. The statisticalquality framework and quality review processes help promoting data quality. The United Nations
Statistical Commission based on these considerations and other important principles establisheda set of Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics in 1994. These principles were adopted by
the UN General Assembly in 2014. Many countries around the world have established a national
code of practice or a national quality assurance framework for official statistics (NQAF) to capture
those principles and best practices, and to safeguard public trust. In 2019, the United Nations
Statistical Commission (UNSC) adopted the United Nations National Quality Assurance
Frameworks Manual for Official Statistics (Manual) that has been developed by the Expert Groupon National Quality Assurance Frameworks. 1 It supports countries in the development andimplementation of a national quality assurance framework (NQAF) throughout their national
statistical systems. It contains recommendations, an updated quality assurance framework andimplementation guidance, including for the quality assurance of SDG indicator data and statistics
and when different data sources are used. In addition, in 2023, the Commission endorsed a1

Available at https://unstats.un.org/UNSDWebsite/data-quality/user-manual.

1

roadmap for the development and implementation of a national quality assurance framework.2
The 2030 Agenda explicitly calls for enhancing capacity building to support national plans to
implement the sustainable development goals. The workshop will provide an opportunity toparticipants to learn basic concepts and frameworks on quality related to statistics, through handson sessions, with an overall aim to strengthen the capacity to produce a set of official statistics,
including indicators, to track and monitor SDGs.
Objectives
The objectives of the workshop are:
1. Participants understand basic concepts of quality of official statistics
2. Knowledge on the UN Manual is provided to enhance quality of statistics according to
the specific circumstances of an individual country
3. Knowledge on the implementation of NQAF is provided
4. Participants understand quality requirements when statistical, administrative and otherdata sources are used
5. Participants gain a holistic understanding of quality aspects for compiling anddisseminating SDG indicators
Expected impact
1.

Improved data transparency and governance through publication of high-quality dataincluding for SDG indicators

2.

Increased ability to use other data sources, including for SDG indicators

3.

Improved trust in official statistics

Topics
The workshop will cover the following:•Overview of quality of statistics•UN Manual and generic UN NQAF•

Quality assurance when using different data sources•

Quality in respect of SDG indicators•

Examples by the Government of Mongolia and of other countries

Participants
Statisticians from countries of the Asia-Pacific region

2

Available at: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/dataquality/roadmap/2Training Workshop on Quality of Statistics for Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) for the Asia-Pacific Region
23 – 25 September 2024
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Provisional Programme

TimeSessions and Events
DAY 1: 23 September 2024

09:00-09:15
09:30-10:15

Registration
Opening• Welcome messages
Mr. Batdavaa Batmunkh
Chairman, National Statistics Office of Mongolia
Mr. Seiji Takata
Deputy-Director, United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific(SIAP)
Mr. Matthias Reister
Chief, Development Data Section, Development Data and OutreachBranch, Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,United Nations• Introduction
 Participants (self-introduction)
 Staff of SIAP
 Staff of NSO
Group Photo and Coffee/Tea Break3

TimeSessions and Events

Lecturers

10:30-12:00

Session 1: The UN National Assurance Framework for
Official Statistics

Mr. Matthias Reister

Lunch Break
13:00-15:00

Session 2: Self-assessment exercise

Group exercise

Coffee/Tea Break
15:15-17:00

Session 3: Implementation of the national quality

Case studies

assurance framework

DAY 2: 24 September 2024
09:30-10:45

Session 4: Overview of available implementation
guidance

Mr. Matthias Reister

Coffee/Tea Break
11:00-12:00

Session 5: Implementation of the national quality
assurance framework

Group exercise

Lunch Break
13:00-14:15

Session 6: Quality assurance for census and surveys andwhen using administrative and other data sources

Mr. Matthias Reister

Coffee/Tea Break
14:30-17:00(continued)
Session 6: Quality assurance for census and surveys andwhen using administrative and other data sources

Case studies / Group
exercise

DAY 3: 25 September 2024
09:30-10:30(continued)
Session 6: Quality assurance for census and surveys andwhen using administrative and other data sourcesGroup exercise

Coffee/Tea Break10:45-12:00

Session 7: An Example: Quality Assurance of Statistics
of Mongolia

N.N.

Lunch Break
13:00-14:45

Session 8: Quality culture – self-assessment

Group exercise

Coffee/Tea Break
15:00-16:15

Session 9: Additional topics

16:15-16:45

Closing• Closing messages
Mr. Seiji Takata

Mr. Matthias Reister• Awarding Certificates4