Brazzaville, 02 March 2021 - African countries with accurate and up-to-date data and statistics have found it easier to address challenges posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).
This observation was made Tuesday during a plenary roundtable on "how to meet the needs for data and statistics to enable a sustainable, inclusive and evidence-based recovery and to build forward better in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and achieve the goals of the Decade of Action for Sustainable Development in Africa”.
The event took place virtually as part of the seventh session of the African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) which is being held from March 1 to 4, in Brazzaville (Congo).
The theme of the 7th ARFSD is "Building forward better: Towards a resilient and green Africa to achieve 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063."
Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director, Houghton Irungu, Moderator of the Roundtable, told participants that "more than ever, we need new models of demographic data collection, to better prepare for post-COVID-19".
“Sharing data with all parties and involving people has been critical when it comes to life and death issues and access to vaccines,” Mr. Irungu said.
Ms. Ingrid Ebouka-Babackas, Congo’s Minister of Planning, Statistics and Regional Integration, who chaired the meeting, highlighted that "in this murky context of our common history, it is more than necessary and urgent to generate reliable data and statistics in order to better rethink and build the future of the continent, coming out of the Covid-19 crisis.”
Mr. Oliver Chinganya, Director of the African Center for Statistics at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), gave a short presentation to show that progress made in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development continued to be “too slow and uneven” in some areas. COVID-19, he said, had stopped or reversed some progress.
Policymakers from Malawi, Benin and Ethiopia, and several high-level experts from the statistical, scientific, technological and innovation communities and civil society, also participated in the discussion.
They shared experiences and their work in trying to generate accurate and timely data to help their nations’ efforts to achieve inclusive and sustainable recovery, in line with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 and to build forward better after the COVID-19 crisis.
The panellists also listed the challenges encountered in the production, management, dissemination and use of data and statistics.
Malawi’s Vice President and Minister of Economic Planning, Development and Public Sector Reform, Saulos Klaus Chilima, complained about poor methods of data collection.
He called on external partners to work together for greater efficiency in the access and use of reliable data and statistics.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org