Workshop to consider EAC Statistics Project Communication and Advocacy Strategy underway in Der es Salaam, Tanzania
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 12th October, 2021: A five-day workshop to consider the Draft Communication and Advocacy Strategy for the EAC Statistics Development And Harmonisation Regional Project (StatDHRP) is currenlty underway in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The workshop started on Monday, 11th October, 2021 and will run until Friday, 15th October, 2021.
The objective of the workshop which is being attended by statisticians and communication officers from the National Statistics Organisations (NSOs) of the six EAC Partner States is for the Technical Working Group (TWG) to review and discuss the draft strategy and provide the inputs to strengthen the document.
Speaking during the opening session of the workshop, the StatDHRP Project Manager, Ms. Vivianne Mwitirehe, who represented the EAC Secretary General Hon. (Dr.) Peter Mathuki, said that statistical data could only be used when they are properly communicated using and following good communication standards.
Ms. Mwitirehe said that in the Partner States the communication of statistics was currently at different levels.
“The request of developing a communication strategy was expressed by the Partner States’ Heads of NSOs when the project on Statistics Development and Harmonization Regional Project was being prepared. The objective was to avail produced statistics for various users decision makers, academicians, researchers, business community and the media, among other stakeholders,” said Ms. Mwitirehe.
“The request from Heads of NSOs on communication of statistics, is therefore being addressed considering the objective of using the produced harmonized, quality and comparable statistics,” she added.
Ms. Mwitirehe said that the the steps in the EAC’s vision of building a prosperous, competitive, secure, stable and politically United East Africa could only be measured using statistics.
“The focus on statistics communication relates to the need for the EAC to monitor consistently and comparably, the impact of regional integration via produced statistics. For the EAC, communication of statistics is necessary for the region to follow the extent to which growth and development objectives are being achieved,” she said.
On his part, the Chairperson of the meeting, Mr. James Nganga, who is also the Senior Manager-Sampling at the Kenya National Bureau Statistics, urged the delegates to ensure that the Draft Communication and Advocacy Strategy was fine-tuned to the required standards.
Notes to Editors:
With funding from the World Bank, the EAC Secretariat is implementing the EAC Statistics Development and Harmonization Regional Project (EAC/StatDHRP) to improve and harmonize statistics in the EAC region. One of the key outputs of StatDHRP is development of a well‐coordinated EAC statistics Communication and Advocacy strategy for communicating, advocating and disseminating of official statistics.
It is in this regard, that the Secretariat has developed a draft EAC Statistics Communication and Advocacy strategy for official statistics. The strategy will be a reference document for the National Statistics Offices (NSOs) for either direct use or to base on when developing their national communication and advocacy strategies.
For more information, please contact:
Simon Peter Owaka
Senior Public Relations Officer
Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 768 552087
Email: sowaka [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of six Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The EAC Secretariat is ISO 9001: 2015 Certified
Tags: EAC/StatDHRP