National Planning Commission Director-General, Obeth Kandjoze called for full collaboration between offices, ministries, agencies, data providers, and the Namibia Statistics Agency as he launched the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) on Wednesday.

Speaking in Windhoek, Kandjoze impressed on the implementation of the NSDS to address identified data gaps.

The strategy will run from the 2023/24 to 2026/27 financial years. It was formulated over four years by the Namibia Statistics Agency with the support of development partnerships, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Highlighting the importance of statistics in national development, Kandjoze emphasised their role in evidence-based decision-making, policy formulation, and providing measures for the development process. He also underscored the significance of statistics in enabling the people of Namibia to assess policy implementation, support economic management, and ensure effective service delivery.

Recognising the growing need for data due to increased development commitments by the Government of Namibia, Kandjoze emphasised that the NSDS serves as a plan to enhance the capacity for producing, disseminating, and mainstreaming the use of statistics across all sectors of the economy.

The NSDS has been developed in alignment with the data requirements of the Fifth National Development Plan (NDP5), as well as other frameworks such as the African Union Agenda and United Nations Agenda 2030.

Kandjoze noted that these frameworks necessitate regular, timely, accurate and disaggregated information to assess their effectiveness.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency