Strengthening Pacific labour market information systems

PRESS RELEASE

Strengthening Pacific labour market information systems

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Pacific Community (SPC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve Pacific labour market information systems and labour statistics.

Improved statistics will allow for better measurement and are essential for monitoring the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the UNPS in the Pacific.

The MoU was signed in Suva, Fiji by Ms. Tomoko Nishimoto, ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific and, Ms. Audrey Aumua, SPC, Deputy Director General. The MoU provides for collaboration in the following areas:

• improved data analysis to feed into labour market information systems and other development policies

• improved data collection on labour market statistics

• strengthened capacity of Pacific Island Countries to conduct labour force – and other- surveys in order to provide timely relevant and internationally comparable labour statistics

• increased compilation, documentation, and sharing of labour related microdata from surveys and censuses to improve access to the reporting and usage of labour statistics, especially in the context of the Global Indicator Framework of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030

• Enhanced sharing of information on events dealing with labour statistics

• Enhanced capacity development and transfer in the gathering and producing of labour market data

Commending the new cooperation arrangement, the ILO Assistant-Director General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Ms. Tomoko Nishimoto, underscored the role of the ILO, through its Department of Statistics, in providing relevant, timely and reliable labour statistics. Ms. Nishimoto also stressed the need for international standards to improve the measurement of labour issues and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while emphasizing the importance of assisting member States in developing and improving their labour statistics.

Ms. Audrey Aumua, SPC, Deputy Director General highlighted the importance of data and statistical information for national and global development agendas. She also took the opportunity to note the steps taken by SPC through its Statistics for Development Division, to strengthen the production and use of quality statistics for evidence-based policy formulation across in the Pacific.

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