Abstract

Collaborating to increase statistical literacy offerings
The range and depth of data demands emerging out of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are unprecedented and present a substantial challenge for national statistical systems in all countries. Significant efforts are required to strengthen national statistical capacities to provide the necessary data and statistics for the full implementation of the 2030 agenda, including statistical training.
The Global Network of Institutions for Statistical Training (GIST) was established in 2018 to facilitate more coordination and help harmonize statistical training offerings. GIST is a network of countries, international and regional training institutions who work together to develop sustainable statistical capacities through efficient, effective, and harmonized delivery of training. The community of experts have developed materials and tools along three main workstreams: i) sustainable training programs at national level; ii) online gateway for statistical learning materials and; iii) statistical literacy.
The task team on statistical literacy seeks to motivate the international statistical system to promote statistical literacy initiatives recognizing that NSOs in particular have a special role in promoting this type of literacy. A key tool in this context is an inventory of materials on statistical literacy relevant to official statistics. The literacy materials are classified using a few key dimensions. The first key dimension considers the main recipients of the statistical literacy materials: school children, students, media, decision makers or others. Other dimensions are type of guidance or learning materials, language of the material, etc.
In addition, the task team is working on a guidance document for NSOs on statistical literacy. The purpose of the document is to provide a guideline for statistical agencies on how to approach the implementation of statistical literacy initiatives, including sections dedicated to the scope of statistical literacy, the identification of target audiences and key partners, a possible diagnostics approach and a matrix to examine the specific situation and conditions under which each NSO operates, as well as the recommendations on actions NSOs could promote. The recommendations are expected to be formulated based on the results of the above country diagnostics and by drawing on good practices available in the GIST statistical literacy inventory and other related sources.