As the central statistical authority and the coordinator of the National Statistical System, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) hosted the meeting of the Sectoral Council for External Assistance in the field of official statistics.

The event addressed issues of sectoral programming and monitoring projects and external assistance programs granted for the development of official statistics.

The SCEA meeting, that took place at the NBS headquarters and chaired by Oleg Cara, Director General of the NBS, Chairman of the Council, was attended by Yeşim Oruç, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Moldova and Co-Chair of the SCEA, Karina Nersesyan, UNFPA Moldova Representative and other SCEA members.

The main topics discussed at the meeting were: technical assistance on official statistics provided by the development partners in 2023-2024 and emerging priorities of Moldovan statistics, especially in the EU integration process and assistance needed. NBS presentations made at the SCEA meeting can be found below.

Mr. Oleg Cara, Director General of the NBS highlighted that ”The successful implementation of multiple activities, including: the conduct of the Population and Housing Census in 2024; the modernization of statistical processes; the further alignment of national statistics to international standards, especially European; the preparation and conduct of bilateral screening activities for Chapter 18 "Statistics" was possible thanks to the successful joint collaboration between the NBS, national and international partners.” Oleg Cara thanked the development partners for their continued support and constant interest in the activities of the NBS and the National Statistical System (NSS) and expressed his confidence that in the process of further development of the NSS in line with international standards, especially the European ones, the cooperation with development partners is essential and of absolute necessity, hoping that this fruitful cooperation will be on the rise.

Ms. Yeşim Oruç, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Moldova, expressed hes appreciation of the efforts and progresses made by the NBS in providing quality statistics for internal and external users, being comparable at international level, and gave assurances that for the UN agencies in the Republic of Moldova, NBS support in modernizing national statistics continues to be a priority.

The development partners congratulated the NBS for the remarkable successes achieved in 2023-2024, in particular on the successful conducting the 2024 Population and Housing Census and the outstanding progress made in the process of our country's preparations for the European Union (EU) accession. Several representatives of development partners participating in the meeting mentioned that NBS is a reliable partner and reconfirmed their commitment to support the NBS and the national statistical system as a whole in further developing and modernizing official statistics in order for statistical data to be used by decision makers to improve people's lives.

Representatives that are part of the SCEA in the field of statistics are: the NBS, State Chancellery, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova (RM), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UN Women), International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank Office (WB), Swiss Cooperation Office and Representation of the Embassy of Switzerland, German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ), Embassy of India in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, and Embassy of Romania in the Republic of Moldova.

The SCEA carries out its activity in accordance with the provisions of Government Decision No. 377/2018 on the Regulation of the institutional framework and the mechanism for coordination and management of external assistance, as amended, and Government Decision No. 458/2019 on some measures to streamline the mechanism and amending some decisions of the Executive.

More information on SCEA and technical assistance projects funded by development partners can be found on the NBS website under International Collaboration.

 PPT presentations:

• Technical assistance on official statistics provided by the development partners in 2023-2024;
• Emerging priorities of Moldovan statistics, especially in the EU integration process and assistance needed.