Hertta-Maria Amutenja
The quality of data is not guaranteed in Namibia because such information is not always compiled for statistical purposes.
The representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Namibia (UNFPA) in Namibia, Gift Malunga made the statement at the launch of the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) this week.
“In Namibia, like in many other countries, inter-agency access to data from administrative and official records is inconsistent and the quality of data is not guaranteed because it is not always compiled for statistical purposes. Currently, the process of data sharing between government entities is not legally mandated. Additionally, the data often is not available for use by other agencies because officers are either unaware it even exists or are unable to access it,” she said.
She said that statistics are a vital part of the development of any country and that Namibia is no exception.
“Statistics are needed for evidence-based decision-making, to support the design, monitoring, and evaluation of national development plans and policies. The development and launch of the NSDS is a tremendous milestone in the history of Namibia, as the strategy will play a major role in the development of quality statistics that will be comparable with the rest of the world and fulfil all scientific statistical standards,” Malunga said.
NSDS provides a plan for developing the statistical capacity to produce, disseminate, and mean-stream the use of statistics in all sectors of the economy.
While also speaking at the launch, the Director General of the National Planning Commission, Obeth Kandjoze, urged Offices, Ministries, and Agencies (OMAs), data providers, and all users to collaborate fully with NSA during the implementation of NSDS in closing the identified data gap.
He said this will ensure that NSA realizes its main strategic objective indicated in the NSDS, which is to be a trusted National Statistical System (NSS) in the production and dissemination of official statistics, by responding to diverse user demands, and with strong partnerships among stakeholders.
“I call upon all our development partners in their continued support, to focus on assistance to the development of statistical systems for the priority sectors during these four years. As the need for data continues to increase with the adoption of more development commitments by the Government of the Republic of Namibia, the NSDS provides a plan for developing the capacity to produce, disseminate and mainstream the use of statistics in all sectors of the economy,” he said
The strategy will run from the financial year 2023/24 to 2026/27.
The NSDS has been formulated over the last four years by NSA) with support from the Partnership for the Development of Statistics in the 21st Century (United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UNFPA, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and PARIS 21.
