Poland in the UN

During this year’s plenary session Poland was represented by a delegation from Statistics Poland composed of:

• Dominik Rozkrut – President of Statistics Poland,
• Olga Świerkot-Strużewska – Director of International Cooperation Department at Statistics Poland, member of the group dealing with implementation of the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics.
• Renata Bielak – Director of Statistical Products Department at Statistics Poland, being at the same time the Co-Chair of the Steering Group on Statistics for Sustainable Development Goals; within United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
• Dominka Rogalińska – Director of Spatial and Environmental Surveys Department at Statistics Poland, responsible for the use of Big Data  for statistics’ needs and responsible for the organization of Polish side event.

The United Nations Statistical Commission, formed in 1947, is one of the Functional Commissions of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Its main task is the coordination and endorsement of activities of a statistical nature conducted at all levels of the global statistical system, as well as supporting the United Nations Economic and Social Council in the area of statistics.

Discussion at the 2020 plenary session focused on current strategies and course of development for the global statistical system.

The main point of this year's plenary session of the UN Statistical Commission is related to the development of coherent and comparable indicators for monitoring the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Representatives of Polish official statistics were taking active part in contributing to global efforts to improve the set of indicators.

President and representatives of Statistics Poland are active members of the groups of strategic importance for the development of official statistics, operating under the auspices of the Statistical Commission: Global Working Group on Big Data for Official Statistics, Friends of the Chair Group on Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, Working Group on Open Data. The results of the above groups’ work were discussed during the session.

Moreover, this year Statistics Poland was the originator and initiator of the satellite side event to the 51st Plenary Session of the Statistical Commission entitled: “Harnessing the power of earth observation to help people in local communities”. The event was dedicated to innovative solutions developed by Poland in the field of using satellite data in agriculture. The invited guests included representatives from UN member states, UN specialized agencies and research organizations.

Poland organized an event accompanying the plenary sessions of the Statistical Commission for the first time. It has a great significance from the perspective of promotional activities and achievements of Polish official statistics. At the same time, it is extremely important in the context of Poland being a candidate for membership of the Statistical Commission.

Polish delegation also participated in the High Level Forum on Official Statistics devoted to the concept of data management and the changing role of national statistical offices, as well as in the Seminar on Emerging Issues, where various aspects of innovative activities in household surveys were discussed.