As part of its mission, one of the UIS main action areas is "assistance to Member States to help them improve their
statistical and analytical capacities". The availability and quality of data are critically dependent upon the statistical
capacities of relevant government departments and national agencies.
Being aware of this importance, the UIS is assisting countries in their effort to improve their capacities for data
collection, processing, quality control, analysis and dissemination through training and other support, and will seek
to work with other parts of UNESCO, such as the institutes and field offices, to deliver assistance cost-effectively.
The aim of UIS Statistical Capacity Building efforts is to help countries to become self-reliant, both financially
and institutionally, so that they acquire the expertise to determine their own data needs and priorities, to collect
these data, to interpret and use them effectively; to undertake research, problem solving and problem formulation;
and to sustain these capacities.
To strengthen its efforts and provide cost-effective and efficient support to its Member States, the UIS deploys
statistical advisers at some of the UNESCO Regional offices."
Central Africa 2007
North Africa
Mauritania
About 30 specialists from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research as well as the University of
Nouakchott met with UIS experts during a workshop held in Nouakchott (Mauritania) from July 25 to 27, 2006.
Guinea
Guinea is one of 7 fast-track countries in sub-Saharan Africa to participate in the UNESCO Institute for Statistics'
(UIS) statistical capacity building project funded by the European Commission. Thus, a number of missions were carried
out in Guinea resulting in a complete diagnostic of the statistical production chain in all sectors and at all levels.
Niger
Niger's Ministry of Education (MEBA), having recognised the importance of the non formal education sector given
the country's high illiteracy rate, is working with UIS and UNESCO/ED/BAS/LIT to develop a management, monitoring
and evaluation system in this education sector.
