Ajman Statistics and Competitiveness Center participated in the activities of the 52^nd session of the International Statistics Commission as a part of the delegation of the United Arab Emirates. This session was virtually held over four days (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 5^th of this March) via Zoom online platform, in the presence of Dr. Hajar Al Hubaishi, the Executive Director of Ajman Statistics and Competitiveness Center and Dr. Yasmin Joudi, the statistical advisor of the Center.

This session was attended by the chairmen and directors of the statistical agencies from different countries worldwide, in addition to representatives of the statistical organizations and bodies at the international level, including the international organizations concerned with the statistical action, such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, International Labor Organization and UNESCO.

Following the launch of the session, the members of the Bureau were elected and the agenda was approved. During the first day, the participants reviewed the data and indices related to the Sustainable Development Plan of  the year 2030, the inter-agency experts' report on the sustainable development indices and the Secretary General's report with regard to reviewing the progress achieved towards the realization of the sustainable development, as well as the report of the high level team on partnership, coordination and capacity building in statistics to monitor the Sustainable Development Plan of 2030, the report of the Committee  for the senior Statisticians of the UN System on coordination within the UN statistical system, the report of the Committee for Statistical Activities Coordination and the report of the Friends of the Chair Group that is concerned with the economic statistics.

On the second day, the meeting discussed the report of the Inter-secretariats Working Group on National accounts, the report of the Committee of Experts on Business and Trade and the report of the Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic accounting, as well as the Secretariat General's report on migration statistics, the report of Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia on regional cooperation for developing the official statistics and the report of the Secretariat General on the management and updating of the statistical systems. 

The third day of the meetings addressed the report of the Global Working Group on Big Data for Official Statistics, the report of the Expert Group on International Statistical Classifications, the report of the Inter-secretariats Working Group on household surveys and the report of the Secretariat General on the presentation and publication of the data and metadata, as well as the report of the Secretariat General on the demographic statistics, the report of the UNESCO Institute of Statistics on the cultural statistics, the report of the Secretariat General on the climatic change statistics, the report of the Core Group of the Inter-Agency Expert Group on Disaster-related statistics, the report of the World Bank on the international comparison program, the report of the sponsors of data and metadata exchange initiative and  the Secretary General's report on the development of the statistical capabilities,  as well as the Secretary General's report on decisions of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council on the policies related to the activities of the Statistical Commission, the report of the Experts Group on the national quality assurance frameworks, the report of the Experts Group on the integration of statistical and geospatial information and the Secretary General's report on the World Statistics Day. 

The participants concluded the fourth days of meetings with reviewing the report of the Statistical Commission on the activities of its 52^nd session and the draft decisions.

Dr. Hajar Al Hubaishi, the Executive Director of Ajman Statistics and Competitiveness Center asserted that the activities of the 52^nd of the meetings of the International Statistical Commission reviewed many of significant reports in statistics area, which contribute to the realization of the Sustainable Development Plan 2030.

In this regard, she pointed out that the annual meetings of the UN International Statistical Commission constitutes the most prominent global statistical event where statistics experts from around the world meet together. She , also,  noted that sharing of the statistical experiences, expertise and innovations would have a significant impact on the development of the statistical action in the United Arab Emirates and broadening of the comprehensive view of the local experts.      

Al Hubaishi added "The annual meetings of the UN Statistical Commission assume a major role for being one of the most prominent forums focusing on the development of the international statistical system, and due to their importance in making available the recent findings of the international statistical reports, as well as the successful experiences and practices of other countries.   There is no doubt that the increased attention paid by the countries and governments in investment in data and statistics stresses their belief that statistics are the cornerstone for realizing the sustainable development."

It is worth mentioning that the International Statistics Commission, which was established in 1947, is the supreme international statistical reference that comprises the senior statistical experts from the member states around the world. It is also the highest body for making decisions on the international statistical activities. The UN Statistics Division organizes this meeting periodically on annual basis. This meeting constitutes the international statistics forum at the level of the statistical bodies worldwide.