The UNECE Conference of European Statisticians (CES) has been involved in setting statistical norms and standards since the Conference was established. Its main objective is to improve official statistics and their comparability, promote close coordination of international statistical activities, respond to any emerging needs for international statistical cooperation, and develop and adopt statistical standards in the UNECE region. The work builds on the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, a standard that was first adopted by UNECE in 1992, and globally by the UN Statistical Commission in 1994. These principles are considered a basic framework which all statistical activities developed by national and international organizations must follow in recognizing official statistics as a public good. On 29 January 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/68/261 on the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics at its sixty-eighth annual session.
The Conference of European Statisticians has enhanced its role as the principal forum for the coordination of official statistical work throughout Europe and North America. CES has a leading role in international work for a strategic change in statistical production. CES adopted a vision for modernizing official statistics in 2011 and a strategy to implement that vision in 2012. The CES High-level Group for the Modernization of Statistical Production and Services, consisting of Chiefs of national and international statistical organizations, is leading the way forward. A number of standards for statistical production have been developed under the CES to support countries in the midst of the ongoing data revolution.
Standards and Models for statistical production, approved by the Conference of European Statisticians (CES)
The following are the most recent international standards, including the related vision and strategy, approved by CES:
1. Generic Activity Model for Statistical Organisations (2017)
2. Generic Statistical Business Process Model (2017)
3. Generic Statistical Information Model (2017)
4. Common Statistical Production Architecture (2017)
5. Generic Statistical Data Editing Models (2016)
6. Strategy to implement the vision for development of business architecture in statistics (2012)
7. Vision for strategic developments in business architecture in statistics (2011)
8. Common Metadata Framework (2006)
Statistical Recommendations, Guidelines and Classifications endorsed by the Conference of European Statisticians (CES)
The following are the most recent international standards that have been endorsed by CES:
1. Road Map on Statistics for Sustainable Development Goals (2017)
2. Guide on poverty measurement (2017)
3. Set of Key Climate Change-related Indicators (2017)
4. Promoting, Measuring and Communicating the Value of Official Statistics (2017)
5. Guide on Valuing Unpaid Household Service Work (2017)
6. Communication of Population Projections (2017)
7. Guide on Measuring Human Capital (2016)
8. Report on Defining and Measuring Circular Migration (2016)
9. Recommendations on Ageing-Related Statistics (2016)
10. Generic Law on Official Statistics for the Countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (2016)
11. Guide to Measuring Global Production (2015)
12. Conference of European Statisticians recommendations for the 2020 Censuses of Population and Housing (2015)
13. Handbook on Measuring Quality of Employment (2015)
14. Guidelines on Statistical Business registers (2015)
15. Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2014, by the Economic and Social Council in 2013, by the United Nations Statistical Commission in 1994, by UNECE in 1992 and by CES in 1991)
16. Conference of European Statisticians’ Recommendations on Climate Change-Related Statistics (2014)
17. Indicators of Gender Equality (2014)
18. Conference of European Statisticians’ Recommendations on Measuring Sustainable Development (2013)
19. Guidelines for Harmonizing Time Use Surveys (2013)
20. Principles and Framework for an International Classification of Crimes for Statistical Purposes (2012)
21. Analysis of International Migration Estimates Using Different Length of Stay Definitions (2012)
22. Making Data Meaningful. Part 4: A Guide to Improving Statistical Literacy (2012)
23. Guide on the Impact of Globalization on National Accounts (2011)
24. An update of the Canberra Group Handbook on Measuring Household Income (2011)
25. Making Data Meaningful. Part 3: A Guide to Communicating with the Media (2011)
26. Updated Classification of International Statistical Activities, used in the Database of International Statistical Activities (DISA) (2010)
27. Developing Gender Statistics: A Practical Tool (2010)
28. Measurement of Different Emerging Forms of Households and Families (2010)
29. Potential Indicators for Measurement of Quality of Employment (2010)
30. Principles on Confidentiality and Privacy Aspects of Statistical Data Integration (2009)
31. Guidelines on the Use and Dissemination of Data on International Immigration, to facilitate their use to improve emigration data of sending countries (2009)
32. Making Data Meaningful. Part 2: A Guide to Presenting Statistics (2008)
33. Population and housing censuses: Conference of European Statisticians Recommendations for the 2010 Censuses of Population and Housing (UNECE recommendations were also drawn up for the 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 rounds of censuses) (2006, prepared jointly with EU)
34. Managing Statistical Confidentiality and Microdata Access. Principles and Guidelines of Good Practice (2006)
35. The Wye Group Handbook - Rural Households' Livelihood and Well-Being (2006)
36. Revision of Classification Systems Used in Transport Statistics (NST 2000) (2006)
37. Statistical Data Editing. Volume 3. Impact on Data Quality (2006)
38. Making Data Meaningful: A Guide to Writing Stories About Numbers (2005)
39. Consumer Price Index Manual. Theory and Practice (2004, prepared jointly with ILO, IMF, OECD, Eurostat and the World Bank)
40. Communicating with the Media: a Guide for Statistical Organizations (2004)
Website: http://www.unece.org/stats/
As of 1 December 2017