National strategies for the development of statistics (NSDS) are the heart of countries' statistical activities. NSDSs determine the data collection activities that countries carry out, help ensure these activities meet the countries' need for data and statistics, support the mobilisation of adequate finance and political support. In a nutshell, NSDS give a unified direction to the many different producers of statistics within a country, making the most of resources and technical capacity, particularly in resource-constrained contexts.
A culture of statistics, including the production of quality statistics, uptake and use of these statistics, statistical literacy and trust in official statistics are the core of a robust NSDS, developed with the active participation by all actors in the national statistical system.
How PARIS21 supports countries' NSDSs
Through years of experience working with partners, PARIS21 has developed guidelines for NSDS development and identified good practices from national statistical offices, who lead the development of the NSDS within countries.
- PARIS21 provides financial and technical assistance to countries in the development of the NSDS, and the mainstreaming of emerging issues like gender and climate change
- PARIS21 also advocates for recognition of the importance of these strategies among national and international partners to mobilise domestic and international support
- PARIS21 support the mid-term and final evaluation of the NSDS, as well as NSS assessments to develop NSDSs
- PARIS21 provide national and regional trainings on NSDS development for technical and high-level decision-makers of the NSS
