The EFTA/UNECE Workshop on the Generic Law on Official Statistics (GLOS)

Having a legal basis for further development of high-level statistics and modernising statistical systems in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) is important because it is crucial to have comparable, independently produced, high-level statistics from all countries to gain a full picture of countries’ economic and social development. This is why experts from Norway, Albania, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) convened in Yerevan on 4 to 5 July 2023 to discuss the use and implementation of the Generic Law on Official Statistics (GLOS) in the EECCA region.

The GLOS Workshop was jointly organised by EFTA and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), in close collaboration with the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia (Armstat). It was overseen by the Conference of European Statisticians’ Steering Group on Statistical Legislation, which includes Albania, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Eurostat, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development and the UNSD. The workshop was attended by ten participants from five selected EECCA countries, and featured presentations and discussions on their experiences implementing the GLOS in their countries.

The GLOS was developed jointly by EFTA, Eurostat and UNECE as part of a broader statistical capacity building project financed through the United Nations Development Account. Its purpose is to support the production of high-quality official statistics, and to modernise and strengthen the legal basis of national statistical systems. Although initially focused on the EECCA region, the GLOS has since been used by countries around the world and adapted to regional needs by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (UN-ESCWA).

Thank you to all the participants attending the EFTA-UNECE GLOS Workshop in Yerevan, and for the fruitful discussions that were had on the way forward for implementing and developing the GLOS and the Guidance on Modernizing Statistical Legislation.

Special thanks to our colleagues at Armstat for their excellent support in hosting the workshop in Yerevan.