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Based on the initiative of the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Office of National Statistics (ONS) of the United Kingdom an informal group of representatives from UN agencies (UNDP, UN Women, UNFPA, WHO) and the UN Secretariat (UNDESA/DSPD), civil society and national statistical agencies from various countries is currently working to support the formation of a City Group on Ageing and Age-disaggregated Data to be formally established in the framework of the 49th Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission in 2018. The purpose of the Group is to identify and address age- and ageing related data gaps and to identify approaches and methodologies to overcome those gaps. In response to requests from member-states, the Statistics Commission at the end of its 48th session added an agenda item on ageing and age-disaggregated data to its draft agenda for the 49th session (2018).
The presentations provided an overview of the work of the informal support group as well as shared experiences with the preparation recommendation on ageing related statistics at the regional level (ECE) and presented an initiative to develop a survey methodology to collect data on older person in Africa (UNDESA/DSPD). Key issues discussed were the recognition of the data-gap on ageing and older persons globally and the need to develop formal and systematic methodologies to address these gaps. The discussion called for enhanced age-disaggregation of existing survey and administrative data while also supporting the need to expand existing surveys to also cover older age-groups. It was further recognized that additional gaps would need to be filled through standardized survey instruments. The consultations also concluded that while it was important to have data and statistics experts take the lead in this endeavour, it was critical to also involve data users, such as government, civil society and academia in the work of the Group.
This side-event was held as an opportunity for national statistical offices and other stakeholders to learn about the initiative and to join the interactive discussion on the case to establish this new City Group.
The event was chaired and moderated by the National Statistician from the UK and featured presentations by representatives from the following entities: Philippine Statistics Authority, UNDESA/DSPD, UNECE Statistics Division, UN Women and Help Age.
It was attended by senior officials from the following national statistics offices: Austria, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Hungary, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Palestine, Philippines, Uganda, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. Also present were representatives from DESA Divisions, UN Agencies and civil society.
Source: UNDESA DSPD