Beirut-Muscat, 8 September 2026--The seventeenth session of the Statistical Committee of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) opened this morning in Al Jabal Al Akhdar, hosted by the Sultanate of Oman represented by its National Centre for Statistics and Information. The session brings together heads of national statistical offices and agencies from Arab countries, along with representatives of the United Nations and regional and international organizations.
Over three days, the session will examine ways to strengthen coordination and the exchange of expertise among member States, as well as priorities for the ESCWA statistical programme over the next two years. The meeting is particularly significant at a time when economic, climate-related and humanitarian crises are having effects that extend beyond national borders, requiring stronger regional cooperation across all areas. These crises also underscore the need for data that are more accurate, timely and comparable, to support decision-making and direct resources towards the people and areas most affected.
In a recorded address to the opening session, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rania Al-Mashat said that the current period was marked by a growing need for reliable, timely, disaggregated and comparable data. "Rapid economic and social transformations, the digital revolution, and the challenges posed by conflict, occupation, disasters and displacement offer renewed opportunities to strengthen the capacity of statistical systems to meet their growing responsibilities," she stressed.
She added: "Statistics are no longer merely a tool for measuring what has happened. They are a cornerstone of the modern State and an instrument for foresight, planning, resource allocation, policy evaluation and stronger accountability. The quality of public decision-making is closely linked to the quality of the evidence on which it is based." She continued: "This is where one of the Committee's greatest strengths lies: learning from our valuable Arab experiences and sharing solutions and expertise. An innovation that succeeds in one Arab country can offer lessons for others, while taking account of differing national contexts and priorities."
The session is especially important because it is the Statistical Committee's principal regional intergovernmental meeting, enabling member States to set priorities for statistical work and technical support. Its role goes beyond presenting national experiences: it connects national needs with joint avenues for Arab cooperation and strengthens the region's contribution to the development of international statistical standards and programmes.
Participants will discuss how artificial intelligence, modern technologies, and administrative, big and geospatial data can complement - rather than replace - official statistics, while safeguarding privacy, transparency and human oversight. The agenda also covers the modernization of national accounts and price statistics, measurement of the digital economy, improvements in statistics on refugees and internally displaced persons, and the initial implementation of the new global framework for disaster-related statistics.
Greater convergence in methodologies, classifications and data-release schedules would provide a clearer picture of regional trends and improve the monitoring of the cross-border effects of crises, displacement, disasters and economic change. It would also help direct resources and technical cooperation to areas of greatest need and enable countries to draw on tested solutions and tools, thereby reducing the cost of modernization and supporting the continued production of essential statistics even under the most difficult conditions.
Holding the session in Oman carries important regional significance. It reflects the Sultanate's support for Arab cooperation and knowledge exchange and provides statistical leaders with an opportunity for direct dialogue to forge practical partnerships whose impact will extend beyond the session.
In his welcoming remarks, National Center for Statistics and Information Chief Executive Officer Khalifa Al-Barwani emphasized that the development of the statistical and information system received considerable attention as part of efforts to achieve the objectives of Oman Vision 2040, including by strengthening data governance, improving data quality and keeping pace with rapid transformations. He said: "We hope - and are confident - that the session's agenda will address many issues that are genuine priorities for our statistical systems, including their modernization, the use of technology and artificial intelligence, and the production of statistics in crisis situations." He concluded by stressing that the Committee's added value lay precisely in its ability to bring these issues together within a single vision: making statistical systems more responsive to national and regional needs, more flexible and more resilient in the face of crises.
The session is expected to conclude with the adoption of a set of decisions charting the course of Arab statistical cooperation over the next two years. These will cover capacity-building, the development of shared tools, and the targeting of ESCWA support in line with member States' needs. Their implementation is expected to improve the timeliness, accuracy and comparability of data, as well as Governments' capacity to design policies, monitor their implementation and measure their impact.
The Statistical Committee meets every two years. It reviews progress made by member States in developing their statistical systems, discusses international statistical programmes and adapts them to the region's priorities and specific circumstances, and promotes the comparability of national statistics at the regional and international levels.
