Statistics Denmark takes the lead in a new project in Jordan
A new Twinning-project financed by the European Union was launched in Amman, Jordan. The aim of the project is to strengthen Jordan’s Department of Statistics’ capacity in line with International and European best practices.
9 February 2023 13:00
February 06, Amman - The European Union (EU) and Jordan’s Department of Statistics (DoS) launched today their Twinning Project on Statistics, which aims to strengthen the latter’s capacity in terms of compilation, analysis and reporting of statistical data in line with International and European best practices.
In cooperation with DoS, the 1.5 million Euro project is being implemented by Statistics Denmark, the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat), and Statistics Lithuania – State Data Agency, with support from Statistics Finland to implement the 24-month Twinning project on statistics. The Project underpin an increase of DoS capacity’s interactions with the EU and support in focusing directly on improving staff skills and enhancing more efficient processes and structure.
This Twinning project will focus on strengthening and developing Jordan’s business and population statistics in line with best international practices through the incorporation of administrative data sources. Furthermore, it aims to improve the statistical data the DoS produces by creating new, high-quality statistics with more detailed breakdown by geography and population. Finally, the project will focus on updating and strengthening current methodologies, particularly for survey-based data.
Participants in the launch of the twinning project.
The Technical Assistant to the Director General of the Jordanian Department of Statistics, Dr. Tayser Muqdadi, inaugurated the opening ceremony and emphasized the importance of the European Union and DoS partnership, as this is the second Twinning project that is being funded by the European Union in cooperation with DoS. And this demonstrates the growing partnership with the EU. In addition, he also stressed that “This project will contribute to the shared knowledge transfer process in order to enhance the department's capacity to provide precise and credible economic and social statistical data for policy and decision makers and researchers, and that is one of the reasons why twinning projects are crucial tools for EU delegations to transfer and localize European expertise in beneficiary countries according to European standards and best practices.”
Mr. Patrick Lambrechts, the First Counsellor and Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation to Jordan, noted that the EU’s partnership with the DoS will allow Jordan to further adapt to statistical standards for official statistics. “Improving the accuracy of official statistics will assist policymakers in making decisions based on solid data from trustworthy sources.” Mr. Lambrechts added that the project focuses on laying the groundwork for the development of a fully integrated administrative data system by developing a Statistical Business Register. This will improve the quality of population estimates. Furthermore, the Twinning project will develop statistical methodologies for estimating small-area statistics on poverty.
Director of Communication and Methodology, Statistics Denmark
The Director of Communication and Methodology Mr. Carsten Zangenberg from the leading Member State Institution, Statistics Denmark, initiated his speak by saying that that today is marking the beginning of a broad collaboration on best practice within a number of statistical disciplines between Department of Statistics in Jordan and five acknowledged National Statistical Institutions from EU.. Mr. Carsten Zangenberg further emphasized that users today have significantly more places to search for fact than before. Therefore, sound methodology as well as clear communication by providers of official statistics is increasingly essential. Mr. Carsten Zangenberg continued after a short break by giving a presentation on the use of administrative data for an improved statistical production with focus on challenges and benefits for National Statistical Institutions, data provider as wells as users.
The Vice president of the Federal Office of Statistics in Germany and Junior project leader Mr. Christoph Unger continued by talking about steps about a register-based census in Germany and highlighted the type of knowledge transfer that this project will adapt to regarding combined methods and the building-up of registers, and added ” without official statistics there would be no trust in statistics, there would be no evidence-based decision-making on the part of our politicians and governments, and our citizens would not trust that we protect their data and work with it in a responsible way for the benefit of society".
Mr. Peter Bohnstedt Anan Hansen, Chief Advisor in International Consulting of Statistics Denmark and the Lead Member State Project Leader and Eng. Mohammad Khalaf, Director of Sustainable Development Unit, Department of Statistics presented the implementation roadmap for the project in order to achieve the project's milestones and mandatory results through conducting training programs, specialized missions, workshops, and study visits which will develop the work of Jordan’s Department of Statistics.
The event was attended by representatives from several Ministries, Public Departments, International Organizations and strategic partners of the DoS.