Ajman Statistics Center (ASC) organized a virtual symposium via the Zoom application titled “The Role of Statistics in Achieving Sustainable Development,” coinciding with the World Statistics Day, which falls on October 2nd every year , and also along with the Year of Sustainability announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, may Allah protect him, and comes as part of the UAE’s preparations to host the twenty-eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28).

The symposium aims to build an intellectual base in the field of statistics and sustainability at the Emirate level, and to achieve cooperation to build a more advanced statistical system that serves sustainable development indicators and helps to support local and national strategies, besides being considered an opportunity to enhance and exchange expertise and experiences in order to develop national statistical systems.

Her Excellency Dr. Hajar Al Hubaishi, Executive Director of Ajman Statistics Center, expressed that today we celebrate the World Statistics Day announced by the United Nations General Assembly, in recognition of the role played by data science and statistics, which is based on the latest techniques and advanced technology, and become a major information support that contributes to the sustainability of operations, planning and decision-making, besides being an important information tool for the business community, and all groups and individuals interested in data in the Emirate of Ajman.

Al Hubaishi added that statistical data plays a major role in achieving sustainable development and supporting national strategies in this field towards building a more prosperous future, by providing accurate statistics that contribute to supporting the UAE vision , its objectives and the vision in the field of sustainability, which can serve its initiatives, efforts and inspired strategies. in this field, particularly the “UAE Net Zero 2050”.

An elite group of statisticians participated in the symposium, including Dr. Yasmine Judi, technical statistical advisor at the Ajman Statistics Center, experts from the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia - ESCWA, Dr. Salah Al-Muzahimi, Director of the Department of Studies and Development Indicators at the Statistical Center for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Dr. Jamal Ballout, expert in developing professional standards and qualifications at the National Qualifications Centre, and Mrs. Maysoon Al Ali, Head of the Sectoral Statistics Department of Abu Dhabi Statistics Center.

The speakers discussed a number of important issues, including the role of the statistical data in drawing up strategic plans for sustainable development, and the foundations for building a sustainable statistical future, in addition to reviewing the best experiences and practices in employing statistical data in sustainability.

Subsequently , Dr. Yasmine Judi presented a paper titled “Record Data and its Role in Promoting Development Plans for the Well-Being of Society” (The Experience of the Emirate of Ajman). Wherein she reviewed the ASC’s efforts in developing and raising the efficiency of the record data in government departments in the Emirate of Ajman and applying the highest standards of statistical quality in the Self-enumeration of Ajman Census and the mechanism for its implementation, registration, and management, in addition to presenting the mechanism for linking the registry data to the Emirate. Dr.Yasmine also reviewed the statistical maturity index in the Emirate, its stages, outputs, and levels data to the Emirate. She also addressed the statistical maturity index in the Emirate, its stages, outputs, and levels.

On the other hand , Dr. Salah Al-Muzahimi presented a working paper titled “Sustainable Development Objectives Indicators Project”, wherein he explained project’s strategic objectives, in addition to the challenges that faced the project, and the most prominent recommendations with the proposed aspirations in this field . While Dr. Jamal Ballout also addressed the role of statistics in stimulating sustainable development, in a presentation titled “Harnessing the Power of Statistics to Stimulate Sustainable Development,”,and finally Ms. Maysoon Al Ali ended the symposium with her latest participation by talking about the role of the government agencies in the semi-decentralized statistical system, in addition to the most significant achievements of the system during presentation of her paper titled “The Semi-decentralized statistics System .

By the end of the symposium, Dr. Yasmine thanked the participants and contributors to organizing the symposium’s activities, and expressed her wishes for everyone’s progress and advancement , hoping that the symposium would have achieved its objectives in strengthening the bonds of cooperation and joining the efforts of all statistical centers to work on strengthening statistical systems and raising the level of efficiency of workers in this field in order to obtain comprehensive and accurate official statistics, and to exchange experiences among statistical centers, universities and academic institutions related to statistical sciences to advance statistical work, and to provide qualified personnel to work in this field.

It is noteworthy that Ajman Statistics Center periodically issues reports and studies in several areas related to sustainability, including the environment and energy report, which includes several areas, such as weather, renewable energy, and ambient air quality. The center also issues report on birds, which addressed the migratory birds, bird reserves in the emirate and in the UAE, and the total numbers of birds monitored in the Emirate, in addition to issuing a sustainability guide in this field.