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07:55 GMT
NEW YORK, March 8 (KUNA) -- More than 300 statisticians from 130 member states kicked off the 48th Session of the UN Statistical Commission, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Commission.
The four-day event, that kicked off today, "Better Data, Better Lives" reviews and decide upon a wide range of statistical areas, including on data and indicators for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, big data for official statistics, quality assurance of the global statistical system, social statistics, integration of statistical and geospatial information and tourism statistics.
During the opening ceremony, the statisticians celebrated 70 years of global collaboration, looking back at when the work of the Commission first began in 1947.
The UN Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development Lenni Montiel told the attendees that it is very fitting that for the 70th anniversary session they are gathered -for the first time - at the heart of the UN's General Assembly Hall. Montiel compared today's gathering to the very first, which took place at the temporary UN headquarters in Lake Success, New York. "Just 10 delegates and 9 observers attended that first Commission," he said.
Further, the UN official commended on the many achievements over the past 70 years, mentioning the Commission's approval of the first international standard, the International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (ISIC) in 1949, and the many more that followed, including the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics in 1994.
Referring to the work on agreeing on a global indicator framework to measure progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he stressed that over this past year, they have shown yet again that they can rise to new challenges.
He then encouraged the participants to be bold, to approve the global indicator framework, and to transmit it to ECOSOC and the General Assembly, thus complying with the concrete mandate given to them. "In doing so, you will add the final missing critical piece to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," he added.
The Statistical Commission consists of 24 member countries of the United Nations, elected by the United Nations Economic and Social Council on the basis of an equitable geographical distribution. The term of office of members is four years. (end)
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