PARIS21 SECRETARIAT : Role (Mandate) and Structure

PARIS21 SECRETARIAT : Role (mandate) and structure

Introduction

1.The PARIS21 Consortium is served by a small Secretariat attached to OECD’s Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD). Options for its future location, governance arrangements and funding are discussed in separate papers. This paper considers the role, accountability and structure of the Secretariat.

Recommendation

2.The ISC is invited to endorse the role, structure and accountability of the Secretariat set out below, including the recommendations that:

the complement should be increased from four to six, including support staff, in order to meet the challenge ahead (para 6)
the ISC should agree upon the composition of the selection panel to appoint the Manager (para 7)
appointments of secondees should be left to the discretion of the Manager and OECD within parameters agreed by the Steering Committee (para 9)

Role

3.The Secretariat has a key role in delivering the vision, strategies and work plan of PARIS21 by either leading or facilitating in the following areas:

Organising global Consortium meetings for PARIS21 and supporting the steering body
Organising regional workshops and advising on and facilitating follow-up activities at the regional and country levels
Supporting countries and regional organisations to develop and bring innovative ideas and proposals for consideration by Trust Funds and other PARIS21 partners
Supporting development and dissemination of information and guidance on issues such as advocacy, indicators of statistical capacity building and sequenced information strategies
Engaging with funders to build support for PARIS21 and to assist in facilitating donor co-ordination, where appropriate
Building support for the PARIS21 agenda and seeking to ensure that key partners and stakeholders are engaged fully and effectively in PARIS21 processes
Facilitating information exchange and sharing of experience between partners to contribute to the development of knowledge and good practice within the Consortium, including through the PARIS21 Website
Act as central contact and reference point for the Consortium
Preparing annual progress reports for approval by the Consortium prior to submission to the UN Statistical Commission, which will approve a report to ECOSOC

4.This is a challenging agenda and the Secretariat will need to be staffed appropriately in order to move ahead as quickly as possible to implement the work programme. Work will be devolved to partner agencies, for instance as part of the regional rollout, but a need will remain for a centralised co-ordination body for the foreseeable future.

5.Clarity is needed on the Secretariat’s responsibilities - and the work of task teams - in relation to the mandates of individual Consortium members and other processes (for instance the UN Statistical Commission and its activities). These relationships are evolving along with PARIS21 processes and more discussion and consultation will be needed on this. But it is clear that the Secretariat should not implement projects but work through advocacy, influence and facilitation - engaging with the various actors involved in implementing and/or funding statistical capacity building activities. Task teams are considered in paper [PAR/SC(2001)7]

Structure and accountability of the Secretariat

6.The Secretariat currently comprises two statisticians plus two support staff. It is recommended that the complement be increased to six in order to meet the challenge ahead.

7.The ISC agreed upon the need for a full-time Manager who can build partnerships and consensus and provide leadership and manage the process. OECD will engage this person against a project or consultancy post funded from a central PARIS21 pot, for two years in the first instance. Recruitment action is in progress through open and transparent international competition. The ISC should agree upon the composition of the selection panel, which might include for instance one or two representatives each from partner countries, bilateral agencies and international organisations. Suitable Consortium members from both OECD and non-OECD countries are encouraged to apply.

8.Both of the existing Secretariat statisticians have been seconded from DFID. One of the DFID posts ends in August 2001. OECD has requested that DFID continues to support the other post and is seeking secondments of another statistician and a statistician/ administrator from other agencies.

9.A policy is needed on secondments. It has been agreed that the Secretariat should remain small and a balance is needed in relation to language groups and type of work. Any secondments should be within the agreed complement and report to the Manager, not to the contributing agency. Within these parameters it is recommended that appointments should be left to the discretion of the Manager and OECD. This is important to enable the Secretariat to respond flexibly and quickly to changing needs as a result of the evolution of PARIS21.

9.The Secretariat is responsible to OECD for day-to-day purposes but is accountable to donors for the contributions it receives and to the steering group, on behalf of the Consortium, for its work programme.

PARIS21 Secretariat

31 May 2001