The Economic Commission for Africa has invited all its member states to celebrate African Statistics Day on November 18, as a reminder of the essential functions which statistics and development information systems serve in Africa's economic and social evolution.
In response to this call, Statistics SA is currently celebrating African Statistics Day at its head office in Pretoria.
This will be followed by stakeholder workshops held in each of the nine provinces, structured according to the different regional needs.
These gatherings will focus on the history of statistical development in Africa, as well as new initiatives in South Africa.
This includes Stats SA's Data Management and Information Delivery project, which will create the infrastructure for centralised storage, retrieval, comparison and analysis of data, metadata, standards and classifications.
During the 1980s, reduced resources for statistical activities - partially the result of the effects of the oil crisis on developing countries - led to a decline in the quantity and quality of statistics in Africa.
In response to this disintegration of statistical infrastructure, the sixth conference of African planners, statisticians and demographers met in Addis Ababa in 1990, and developed an action plan to reverse this trend in statistical development.
This addressed a range of key factors responsible for the demise of statistics in Africa: inadequate funding, poor management, outdated technology, inadequate co-ordination, and slow response to new data needs.
The Addis Ababa Plan of Action, adopted by the 16th Meeting of African Ministers responsible for Economic Planning and Development, set aside November 18 each year to be celebrated as Africa Statistics Day in order to 'increase public awareness about the important role which statistics play in all aspects of social and economic life'.
This year's celebration draws public awareness to the pivotal role which statistics plays not only in the social and economic spheres, but in all aspects of life.
The aim this year is to draw attention to the core competence within the statistical process, which is data production, analysis and dissemination.
For that reason, the theme for 2004 is 'Enhancing Data Production and Dissemination for Effective Socio-Economic Policy Analysis and Management'.
Statistical agencies in Africa are working towards a comprehensive statistical framework to provide policy-makers with a tool for monitoring each stage of the economic and social development, setting production, consumption and investment goals, and determining the roles of the different actors in the national economy.
There has been considerable progress in developing this framework, and introducing the related statistical infrastructure.
However, some economies are still faced with a chronic situation in which data are not available on time or are of poor quality, incomplete and sometimes incoherent.
As long as this situation lasts, it will be difficult for Africa to attain the objective it has set for itself, namely to halve the incidence of poverty by the year 2015.
The collection of high-quality statistics is central to planning, implementing and monitoring all the elements of development, regardless of whether these focus on poverty reduction, economic development or job creation, and regardless of whether these goals goal are set out in the South African government's Programme of Action or the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals.
Africa Statistics Day reminds us that the development of statistical capacity for policy making, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, is not just about numbers.
It is an integral component of improving the conditions under which the majority of the world's population lives.