Members of the Sectoral Council of External Assistance (SCEA) in the field of official statistics met on October 4 to present the progress in the development of the official statistics sector and to assess the current situation regarding the needs of external assistance for the development of the National Statistical System (NSS) in the next period.

At the beginning of the meeting, the director general of the NBS, Mr. Oleg Cara, the president of the Sectoral Council, thanked the development partners for the interest presented in the statistical activity carried out by the NBS, but also by the members and partners of SSN in general. "By definition, statistics must be comparable at the international and regional level, based on methodologies, classifications and international standards, and in this process international cooperation is undeniable and absolutely necessary", declared Oleg Cara. The Director General of the NBS expressed his gratitude for the essential support received by the NBS and SSN as a whole, expressing his confidence in the continuation of this support.

For his part, Mr. Simon Springett, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations Organization (UN) in the Republic of Moldova, co-president of CSAE, appreciated the NBS as a responsible and strategic partner, which, by virtue of the challenges of recent years, continued its mission has to provide the user community with quality and timely statistical data. The official referred to the importance of statistical data for the development and monitoring of strategies, such as the "European Moldova 2030" National Development Strategy, recently approved by the Government, but also the global Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. "The National Statistical System requires strong and coordinated support for to align with international standards and to ensure consistency of statistical data systems at all levels," said Simon Springett.

Present at the event, Dr. Nigina Abaszada, UNFPA Resident Representative in the Republic of Moldova, member of CSAE, noted the importance of statistical data for the development of local communities and improving the quality of life of each citizen, noting that UNFPA is a faithful partner in the process of improving statistics official The other representatives of the development partners participating in the CSAE meeting also mentioned the support given to the NBS and other institutions within the SSN in order to develop national statistics.

During the meeting, the main results obtained in recent years were reviewed, within the technical assistance projects in the field of statistics implemented with the financial support of the European Union, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) The UN, the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ), the Government of India, the Government of Romania, etc.

Also, during the meeting, the provisions of the National Statistical System Development Strategy (SSN) 2022-2030 project were presented, which at the current stage is in the process of public consultation. It was noted that the Strategy comes to directly support the implementation process of the national strategic development framework. By providing official statistics necessary for an evidence-based policy process, SSN will support the Government's efforts in the implementation, continuous monitoring and intermediate and final evaluation of the impact of the National Development Strategy "European Moldova 2030", as well as the implementation of the Global Sustainable Development Agenda, but also of sectoral policies.

Another topic on the agenda concerned the preparation for the 2024 Population and Housing Census (RPL). The organization of this work of major national importance is a complex action that requires effort and considerable material, institutional, financial and human resources. It should be noted that an important contribution for the NBS in the process of preparing the next RPL is given by development partners such as UNFPA, India-UN Partnership Fund for Development, EU and SDC. This included support and technical assistance in the initial evaluation of relevant administrative sources for the purposes of the census, the approval of the legal framework for the development of the census information system, the implementation of the internal audit of the compliance and security of the processing of personal data, the partial provision of modern data collection equipment in the field, including for the creation of the georeferenced database of buildings and homes.