The MDGs are eight internationally-recognized development goals to be
achieved by 2015, many of which resonate with the purposes of ASEAN.
Sixty indicators have been defined by international statistical experts
to measure the world’s progress towards the MDGs.
Of the 60 indicators, the workshop agreed to push forward the idea of
having 27 indicators monitored regularly beginning in 2011. The
workshop also agreed on the outline of the first issue of the “ASEAN
Statistical Report on MDGs Indicators”.
In his opening remarks, the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN
Economic Community, Mr. S. Pushpanathan, underscored the important role
of statistics in creating a culture of evidence-based policy and
decision making. “Without quality statistics, we cannot measure our
progress and we cannot properly assess how ASEAN has been doing or how
ASEAN integration has benefited its people, industries and economies,”
he said. He invited other development partners to join in the
initiative of measuring their progress towards the MDGs.
The “Regional Workshop towards the ASEAN Statistical Report on the
Millennium Development Goals” was attended by national MDG experts from
ASEAN. The workshop was organized with the assistance of the EU-ASEAN
Statistical Capacity Building (EASCAB) Programme. ARCMDG at AIT will be
part of the working group which will facilitate the production of the
first ASEAN report on MDGs scheduled in September 2011.