Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS)
Forty-Second Session
Amman/Jordan, 15-16 November 2017
AITRS Board of Trustees convened in its forty-second session in the Jordanian capital of Amman during the period 15-16 November, 2017 under the auspices of the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The meeting was opened by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Ali Mahdi Qareera, Executive Director of Statistics and Census Bureau in the State of Libya, where he welcomed the Board members and attendees and thanked the Jordanian Government for its support to and incubate of AITRS office in Amman as well as sponsoring its activities, meetings and needs in general. He commended the efforts of AITRS in implementing the works entrusted to him and indicated to the Arab statistical cooperation and the role of AITRS in the embodiment of this cooperation.
His Excellency Dr. Qasim Al-Zu'bi, Director General of the Department of Statistics in Jordan, as the representative of the sponsor of the meeting, welcomed members of the Board and expressed his happiness for participating in the meeting opening session which comes at a delicate stage replete with challenges and updates that require a focus on statistical information and activation of regional and international partnership, to be reflected positively on the development process in the Arab world as the advancement of statistical process is a shared responsibility among the states. He concluded by emphasizing the sponsorship of the Jordanian Government of AITRS for performing its best contribution to strengthening the statistical capacities of employees at Arab statistical offices.
Meanwhile, the Director General of AITRS welcomed the representative of the meeting sponsor and heads, representatives and delegates of statistical offices attending the meeting for the first time as well as guests. Then he reviewed the history of Arab statistical work, challenges, achievements and expected ambitions at all levels. He also thanked all those who collaborate with the AITRS for enhancing the official statistical work.
The chairmanship of the Board of Trustees then transferred to the Arab Republic of Egypt represented by his Excellency Major General Abu Bakr Al-Jundi, head of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in Egypt, with the representative of the Kingdom of Morocco named as a Vice Chairman of the Board at its current session. At the end of the opening session, AITRS Director General presented a trophy to the x-president of the Board, Dr. Ali Mahdi Qareera, for his efforts during his presidency of the Board.
After studying the points on the meeting agenda, the Board took several decisions, including the following:
1. Authentication of AITRS Director-General report for 2017 and commendation of the exerted efforts.
2. Emphasizing the need to contribute to the activation of the United Nations Statistical Commission recommendations regarding the development of statistics in support of SDGs 2030 through the proposed program of work for the years 2018-2019 to support the statistical capacity of member states.
3. Approval of AITRS proposed work plan for the year 2018, including continuation of "e-training" with emphasis on further coordination and cooperation with international or regional organizations to support training courses either from within or outside the plan.
4. Approval of AITRS budget for the year 2018.
5. Praising the high quality level reached by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in getting the European Certificate of Excellence (EFQM).
6. Approval in principle of the establishment of distance master degree in official statistics and authorization of AITRS administration to complete the procedures related to the implementation of this project as well as emphasizing the necessity for looking at the experiences of other institutions and presenting the results to the Board at its regular meeting of the year 2018.
At the end of the meeting the Board thanked the Jordanian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation on the sponsorship of this meeting and also praised the cooperation by the Department of Statistics/Jordan for convening it. The meeting was adjourned at 5:00p.m on Thursday 16/11/2017.
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