Republic of Moldova

The World Statistics Day was celebrated for the first time in the Republic of Moldova

October 20, 2010, Chisinau –On October 20, 2010, the Republic of Moldova, along with all Member States of the United Nations, celebrated the World Statistics Day for the first time. On the same day, the first Statistician’s Day in the Republic of Moldova was marked. This celebration was established by a Government decision this year.

Present at the celebration ceremony, the Prime Minister Vlad FILAT said that the proclamation of the Statistician’s Day would align, on the one hand, the Republic of Moldova with the international best practices and, on the other hand, would reinforce the image of statistics in a modern society.

“In a way, you, the statisticians, are privileged – you are the first persons who find out what is happening in the country and who see the trends that are recorded. I confess that I closely follow the effects of your work and I am guided very much in my activity by the data that you provide. Furthermore, the statistical data underlie many government decisions, therefore the responsibility that you bear is enormous and I am aware that your work is not easy”, Vlad Filat mentioned. “The society is guided by the data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). On that account I would like to encourage you to continue the activity with the same professionalism that you manifested so far and not to forget that the main beneficiaries of the outcomes of NBS work are the citizens of the Republic of Moldova”, Vlad Filat said. In addition to the congratulatory message, the Premier awarded diplomas and government distinctions to several employees of the statistics field.

“The official statistic data represent the cornerstone of democracy, which is essential for the fulfilment of the citizen’s right to information”, the General Director of the NBS, Lucia Spoială, said within the ceremony. She presented the recent successes of the institution, including the improvement of the legal activity framework, the assimilation of the new statistic method in accordance with the international practice, the development of the partnerships with the specialized international institutions. These facts allowed the alignment of the statistics from the Republic of Moldova with the international standards.

In this context, Matilda Dimovska, the Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Moldova, reiterated the willingness of the United Nations to support the Republic of Moldova in satisfying its statistic needs, including through the UN Joint Project “Strengthening the National Statistical System of the Republic of Moldova” implemented since 2007. “So far, through this initiative, several important achievements can be mentioned, including the improvement of the quality of statistical data in line with the international standards; the increase of the availability of the disaggregated data and the improvement of the used statistical methodologies and tools, as well as the enhanced abilities of both, the independent analytical groups to produce analytical papers on the basis of the official statistics and of the line-ministries to use the statistics in the process of policies development, monitoring and assessment”, Matilda Dimovska said.

The current and former employees of the national statistical office, the representatives of the public authorities, partner institutions in production and usage of the statistics, academia, business environment, international organizations and civil society attended the event dedicated to the World Statistics Day and to the Statistician’s Professional Day.

The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) adopted, on June 3, 2010, in the framework of the 64th session, the Resolution A/RES/64/267 on the first celebration of the World Statistics Day on October 20, 2010. The Government of the Republic of Moldova adopted, on October 6, 2010, the Decision no. 934 dated October 8, 2010 “On proclamation of the professional holiday Statistician’s Day”.

Contact: Aurelia Spătaru, project manager, “Strengthening the National Statistical System” (Joint project with the National Bureau of Statistics, UNDP, UNIFEM, UNFPA and UNICEF), tel: (373 22) 40.31.42, fax: (373 22) 21.08.68; E-mail: aurelia.spataru@undp.org.