GCC-Stat Conducts Regional Workshop on Development & Progress Indicators

Muscat, October 27 (QNA) -A regional workshop on development and progress indicators kicked off on 26 October 2014 in the Omani capital Muscat. Organised by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat), the three-day workshop aims to identify the GCC-Stat requirements to improve its capacity to produce social and economic indicators that reflect the ongoing development of the GCC member states. Participants at the workshop represented the national statistical department from the six GCC member states, namely; UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, and include senior staff who are involved in the production and dissemination of reports and indicators related to the progress and development in the region. Reports and bulletins that cover this sector are referred to by official authorities and policy makers, as well as statisticians, researchers and specialists in the field. Commenting on the importance of conducting the workshop, Hessa Al Janahi, Consultant at the GCC-Stat, noted: "Witnessing the consistent and comprehensive development and progress in various fields achieved across the GCC region over the past few decades, there has been a growing need for prescribed statistical data and information that parallels such development and progress. The respective GCC national statistical offices are expected to provide data and indicators that measure the well-being and sustainable development in the GCC society." The 3-day workshop covers a number of key points that include: enhancing statistics of pan GCC progress and development, indicators for the Millennium Development Goal (MDG), the UNDP Human Development Report datasets, and the GCC development post 2015. Workshop participants will also discuss the framework for available progress and development data and indicators, in addition to the GCC-stat plans for future statistics in this field. "We hope by the end of this workshop to agree on the statistical products that should be provided to satisfy this requirement, determine their broad content and structure, develop a work plan and a strategy for the data collection and dissemination, and raise the capacity of the national statistical offices of the GCC member states in relation to the development of specialised publications for the indicators," added Al Janahi. This workshop comes within the GCC-Stats efforts that aim to enhance the quality of statistical data and information, and to boost the statistical work across the GCC region through continuous training programmes and workshops where participants exchange experiences and improve their skills and capacity by following best international practices that are also adapted to suit the GCC society and serve the common goals of the GCC member states.(QNA)