A brief glimpse into the fascinating world of international statistics

Abstract

and co-chair of the CCS-UN b UN Office for Drugs and Crime and co-chair of CCS-UN and CCSA c World Bank and co-chair of CCSA People often refer to, and think of, the United Na-1 tions (UN) as a monolith, a single organization. But in 2 fact, the UN is a complex amalgam of agencies, enti-3 ties, funds and programmes, all with different (but often 4 overlapping) mandates and governing bodies. Add to 5 this, all of the other international and supra-national 6 organisations (IOs) and the need for coordination be-7 comes obvious. Many of these agencies undertake sta-8 tistical activities and hence the need for the Committee 9 for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA). 1 10 The CCSA comprises the chief statisticians (or nearest 11 equivalent) in each of the UN and IOs. In short, the 12 CCSA aims to: promote interagency coordination and 13 cooperation on statistical programmes and consistency 14 in statistical practices and development; foster good 15 practices in statistical activities of international organ-16 isations in accordance with the Principles Governing 17 International Statistical Activities; 2 and contribute ac-18 tively to the development of a coordinated global statis-19 tical system producing and disseminating high-quality 20