Local statistics will undergo a major improvement in the next four years with the new Swiss-funded project SALSTAT. The launch was announced by INSTAT Director Delina Ibrahimaj and included a presentation by the General Director of Swiss Federal Statistics Office Georges-Simon Ulrich.
“Good decisions are based on evidence, and evidence is based on data and facts and figures. Reliable data are a cornerstone of evidence based decision-making. Here in Albania, it is especially at the local level where concrete and reliable data remain scarce”, said Swiss Ambassador Christoph Graf at the launch. He mentioned that he expects from the new project “a modern, integrated, accessible and user-friendly data system at municipal level”.
“The real users of statistical registers will be us as producers of statistics, municipalities, central and local government, national and international institutions, and this certainly serves a single purpose: providing the best public services to the community we live in”, said INSTAT Director Delina Ibrahimaj.
“Reliable statistics are a cornerstone of democracy. They are landmarks in a complex world and provide objective information to guide policies”, said the General Director of Swiss Federal Statistics Office Georges-Simon Ulrich. He added that politicians and the government are obliged to be more transparent if there are trustworthy statistics available.
The project launch was also greeted by Minister of Finance and Economy Arben Ahmetaj, who said that “without a doubt INSTAT is now a truly independent institution”. He compared the situation now when as a citizen he can rely on statistics provided by INSTAT with that of a few years ago when economic growth figures were decided by government leaders with no factual basis.
SALSTAT will build register-based statistics at municipal level and will also support the improvement of the national census. Until now the censuses in Albania are conducted based on surveys which are costly and time-consuming, whereas the project will work to create a register-based census instead. This means that central and local information can be integrate into one system that allows more accurate information and therefore decision-making.
As yet in Albania there are no reliable registers for the population, households, buildings, and dwelling and this makes it difficult for municipalities and mayors to make their policies and decisions more effective and efficient. The project will serve to build a sustainable statistical system by building multifunctional statistical registers in line with international methodologies and standards for the development of an efficient and sustainable system. It will bring in Switzerland’s experience in register-based statistics at local level and INSTAT will coordinate and support municipalities in data collection and processing. Municipalities are expected to become more able to conduct modern and accurate statistical work as result of the project.
SALSTAT is part of the larger ‘Strong Municipalities’ project - funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) – and the expertise will be provided by the Swiss Federal Statistics Office.
