INTER-DEPARTMENTAL COORDINATION MEETING ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF OFFICIAL STATISTICS IN THE CONTEXT OF ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Today, an interdepartmental coordination meeting was held at the Agency of Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan to discuss issues of developing official statistics in the process of adaptation to climate change in the Republic of Tajikistan.

The meeting was attended by the First Deputy Director of the Statistics Agency Aso Nurullo Asvat, the relevant departments of the Agency, representatives of ministries and departments, as well as the United Nations Development Programme.

The meeting was opened by the First Deputy Director of the Statistics Agency Aso Nurullo, who initially emphasized that state statistics bodies always support the initiatives and constructive steps of the Founder of Peace and National Unity – the Leader of the Nation, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, the respected Emomali Rahmon , and are consistently guided by his instructions and orders in their activities.

It was especially noted that, within the framework of the implementation of the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan dated October 2, 2019 No. 482 “On the National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Republic of Tajikistan for the Period up to 2030”, the Statistics Agency is taking practical measures and, within the framework of its powers, is making efforts to develop official climate statistics.

It was noted that climate change is closely linked to the global political situation and requires special attention from the world community. In the Republic of Tajikistan, the process of adaptation to climate change is a set of measures aimed at reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience to climate change.

“In this regard, the Statistics Agency is ready for mutually beneficial cooperation with ministries and departments in order to strengthen the collection and processing of data, improve the level of knowledge and intellectual potential of employees, and create a sustainable Information and Communication Technologies infrastructure for storing and analyzing statistical data,” noted Aso Nurullo.

During the meeting, the head of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Project of the United Nations Development Programme in Tajikistan Manzura Bakhtdavlatova made a presentation on the results of the project’s activities and achievements, Head of the Department of Statistics of Industry and Investments in Construction of the Firdavs Statistics Agency Asmatbekzoda spoke about the development of official statistics for decision-making on climate change issues, planning the collection and dissemination of relevant data, and the head of the Agency’s Department of Agricultural and Environmental Statistics, Khurshed Kasymov, made a presentation on the issues of defining indicators for measuring national potential, the coverage of current indicators and further steps to implement the statistical system.

The meeting discussed issues of identifying priority areas of statistical indicators for inclusion in the monitoring system, developing approaches to the use of official statistics for decision-making related to climate change, identifying existing gaps in data and possible sources of information, methods of coordination between stakeholders, synchronizing key elements of the system for monitoring and assessing adaptation to climate change, proposals for integrating climate indicators into official statistics, compiling a preliminary list of necessary data and sources of information, and other issues.

At the end of the meeting, the opinions of the participants were heard and the issues raised were discussed.