The event, which took place on May 9, 2023, aimed to refine the framework of collaboration between the two structures.
It is the large meeting room on the7th floor of the headquarters building of the National Institute of Statistics that served as the setting for this fruitful exchange. For nearly two hours, the Director General of the INS and the representative of the World Bank, each of his close collaborators, discussed the conditions for the implementation in Cameroon of the project for the harmonization and improvement of statistics in West and Central Africa (HISWACA). The World Bank did not fail to congratulate the INS for its commitment and speed in the preparation of project documents.
As a reminder, the HISWACA project aims to improve statistical performance, harmonization, access to and use of data by West and Central African countries as well as regional (AU) and sub-regional community organizations (UEMOA, CEMAC) and to support the modernization of their respective statistical systems. The components of the project are as follows:
Component 1: Harmonization and production of basic statistics using harmonized methodologies
The first component consists of producing harmonized tools (classifications, methodologies, etc.) at the continental and sub-regional levels and supporting the production of basic statistics using the harmonized tools mentioned above. The activities of this component aim to improve Pillars 4 (data sources) and 5 (data infrastructure) of the Statistical Performance Index (SPI), where participating countries in the regions perform poorly in terms of statistical performance. It is comprised of five sub-components, namely:
Sub-component 1.1 : Improving data comparability through harmonization at the regional and subregional levels
Sub-component 1.2. Support demographic and socio-economic statistics.
Sub-component 1.3. Improving basic economic statistics.
Sub-component 1.4. Supporting agricultural and fisheries statistics
Sub-component 1.5. Support sectoral and geospatial statistics from administrative sources.
Component 2: Support for the statistical modernization of the national statistical offices of the participating countries. The second component supports the modernization of statistics, institutional reforms, improved access, dissemination and use of data, and human resource development. This component aims to help national statistical offices in participating countries prepare to move towards what the World Development Report (WDR) 2021 calls an integrated national data system.
Sub-component 2.1 : Supporting institutional reforms, improving access, dissemination and use of data, and human capital
– Sub-component 2.2 : Improved statistical advocacy, coordination, access to and dissemination of data by regional bodies.
Sub-component 2.3 : Support institutional reforms for better coordination of NSS and improve sustainable financing.
Sub-component 2.4 : Improving access to and dissemination of data at the national level.
Sub-component 2.5 : Improve the use of data to inform public policies.
Sub-component 2.6: Periodic data user satisfaction surveys.
Sub-component 2.7 : Strengthening human capital.
Component 3: Support the upgrading and modernization of physical infrastructure
This component aims to strengthen the capacity of NSIs and statistical schools by providing them with the necessary equipment and tools to properly fulfil their mandate. As part of this component, the project will support the construction of a new building or the rehabilitation of physical infrastructure and information and communication technologies (ICTs) for NSIs and statistical schools.
Sub-component 3.1 : Construction and improvement of infrastructure of selected national statistical offices (NSOs) and regional statistical schools
Sub-component 3.2: Modernisation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and statistical infrastructure of national statistical offices (NSOs) and regional statistical schools.
Component 4: Project management, monitoring and evaluation
The objective of this component is to support the management and monitoring/evaluation of the project. This component will also support regular user satisfaction surveys to measure the extent to which the statistical products or services produced meet or exceed user expectations. It does not include a sub-component.