Mois : décembre 2017

MEDSTAT IV

How to better communicate on statistics?

After 8 weeks of dis tance learning, MEDSTAT IV brought trainees from the ENP-S countries to Casablanca (November 28-30 with participants from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) and Larnaca (December 10-13 with participants from Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Palestine) for the last phase of its regional “Communication for statistics – C4S” training for trainers course.

During both events, the capacities of the trainees to become trainers were tested through practical exercises on press releases and video-recorded sessions of fake interviews. Complementary knowledge and practices were also transferred to the participants mainly on media training and adult training.

The participants, grouped in country teams, also had an opportunity to present the national training projects they wanted to implement in 2018, building on what they learned during the regional course. Comments to these projects were given by the trainers and by the participants themselves which led to changes in the content and the structure of the initial projects.

The projects designed by the country teams all cover employment statistics and how to communicate on indicators in this area. However they are very diverse: they target different audiences (only statisticians in Jordan, Palestine and Tunisia, only journalists in Egypt and Israel, both groups in Algeria and Morocco) and they are organised differently (one training course only in Alg eria, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Tunisia) and a series of several courses in Israel and Morocco). MEDSTAT IV will support the initial delivery of these national training courses.

This diversity opens room for a fruitful assessment of the results achieved and an interesting sharing of experiences. The project will initiate a discussion among the countries when all the country training projects will have been delivered.

The training projects in Israel, Morocco and Palestine are already integrated in the 2018 training programmes of the NSIs, this allowing for a full internalisation of the material and of the process. The training material (in French, English and Arabic) is available on free use for future replications and development.

For more information, please contact Medstat4@expertisefrance.fr

 

MEDSTAT IV

Fourth Meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean Working Group on Transport statistics and Regional Workshop on the use of transport statistics in the production of impact assessments

Larnaca – 5-7 December 2017

Answering new challenges in the Mediterranean transport statistics

On December 6-7, MEDSTAT IV organised a two-day workshop on the use of transport statistics in the production of impact assessments and in the evaluation of transport policies which was attended by representatives of the NSIs and the Ministries of Transport of six ENP-S countries (Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine).

Policies and projects related to transport often imply huge public and private investments and transport statistics are key to ensure an evidence-based decision-making and policy design process and to promote an informed public debate. National transport statistics systems of the ENP-S countries need to develop statistics on transport volumes and traffic that will enable an ever more detailed analysis of goods and people mobility.

The meeting built around the presentation of the work of CETMO (Centre d’Etudes des Transports pour la Méditerranée Occidentale) on the creation of a regional observatory of transport and logistics activities in the Mediterranean region and the related system of indicators. The presentation and the discussions that followed led to a fruitful exchange among the ENP-S countries on national strategies for the development of the use of transport statistics in the production of impact assessments and in the evaluation of transport policies. Specific indicators have also been identified that the partner countries are encouraged to produce in order to enhance this strategic use of transport statistics and to ease regional comparisons and consolidations.

On December 5, MEDSTAT IV, Eurostat and the ENP-S countries met for the Fourth Meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean Working Group on Transport statistics (EMWGTS), which allowed ENP-S Countries to present and discuss the main evolutions in their statistical systems on transport and to assess the main progress achieved in the production and dissemination of transport statistics since the start of the MEDSTAT IV Project. The meeting also gave the opportunity to discuss key issues for the follow-up of the work programme and the visibility of its results through the adoption of monitoring indicators and a first discussion on the development of infographics.

 

 

 

 

MEDSTAT IV: Sector External trade and balance of payments

Technical Assistance on International Merchandise Trade Statistics Methodology for Libyan staff of the CBSC

Tunis on 27-30 November 2017

This action is in line with the work programme adopted by the Euro-Mediterranean Working Group on Statistics on External Trade and Balance of Payments, which includes, among other events, technical assistance at the request of ENP’s countries in this field.

LIBYA, through the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CBSC, Prof. Abdella Zidan Allag, expressed its demand for more in-depth training in the production and dissemination of merchandise trade statistics taking into account the new international recommendations (IMTS2010).

The meeting took place in Tunis from 27 to 30 November 2017 and was led by Mr Ouljour Houssein, expert of the « Office des Changes » of Morocco as part of a south-south cooperation. On the Libyan side, four executives from the Statistical Office took part in this meeting, and more specifically from the Foreign Trade Statistics Department.

Travelling in Libya may pose practical problems for MED experts and it is customary to meet with Libyan experts in Tunisia. Knowing that more than 90% of Libyan exports are crude oil and gas, the focus was, during this technical assistance, on imports of goods.

The technical assistance concerned the following points:

• Introduction to international recommendations and the legal framework
• Concepts, definitions, data collection and processing.
• Dissemination of data, metadata and quality reporting.
• Phased implementation of IMTS 2010 recommendations in Libya.

The last point allowed Libyans to develop a medium and long-term strategy for the development of foreign trade statistics for goods in coordination with all the institutions concerned by the topics.

The discussions allowed the expert to situate the level of foreign trade statistics of goods in Libya and to guide his responses and interventions.

For more information, contact medstat4@expertisefrance.fr.