The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), UN Statistics Division (UNSD), and Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS) organized the Arab Regional Statistical Conference with the theme “Agility and Resilience of National Statistical Systems” in response to the calls of the 75^th Session of the General Assembly and the 15^th Session of the ESCWA Statistical Committee. The Conference was held on 13-15 June 2023 in Amman, Jordan.

SESRIC delegation headed by H.E. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK, Director General of SESRIC, participated in the Conference to contribute in the session on “Institutional Governance and Coordination of National Statistical Systems” and panel discussion on “Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics”. She addressed the Conference in the opening session. A presentation about the initiatives and activities of the Centre for bolstering modernisation of national statistical legislations in the OIC region was delivered by SESRIC during the Conference.

Main objective of the Conference was to understand better and prioritize the emerging needs of statistical organizations to adapt and develop and exchange experiences and strategies of Member States in such processes. The Conference also stimulated an exchange of information on national best practices as well as recent global and regional initiatives and programmes supporting the transformation and modernization of official statistics to address emerging user needs for high-quality and internationally comparable statistics and indicators.

The Conference brought together high-level representatives from national statistical offices in the Arab region, as well as international and regional organizations to discuss these issues. The Conference provided a forum for senior statisticians to address recent institutional, organizational and technical developments addressing future challenges and opportunities for the production of official statistics and indicators.

It is expected that the outcome of the Conference contributed to the updating of the Handbook on Management and Organization of National Statistical Systems. The Handbook is a living document, is a non-prescriptive compendium providing guidance and informing statistical organizations on critical issues and topics, including new and emerging ones while acknowledging the diversity and specificity of national contexts.

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