How can a strong legal framework and well-defined national statistical system encourage the production and dissemination of migration data?

Statisticians may not have access to administrative data due to privacy, data protection and security measures in place. Access to administrative data requires a legal foundation and changing the legal mandate of a NSO is a long and cumbersome process. Access to administrative databases might therefore be facilitated for NSOs seeking to compile and disseminate official migration statistics, in compliance with data privacy and protection legislation. Furthermore, cooperation between NSOs and the authorities in charge of administrative databases should be improved, as evidence shows that close collaboration significantly improves data quality (EGRISS, 2020).

Today, private corporations consider data collected as a by-product of services provided as a valuable asset and are therefore unwilling to enter into a sharing agreement with NSOs without any financial compensation or a legal obligation to do so. A legal framework is required not only to guarantee access to the data for NSOs, but also to impose restrictions on what governments can do with the data sourced from private corporations (EGRISS, 2020).

The fundamental instrument for safeguarding official statistics and minimizing the disadvantages is the legal framework that sets out the NSS and governs its operation. The legal framework consists of the laws and legally binding regulations that govern the relationship between members of the NSS and data reporters for the provision of data, as well as all aspects of data compilation and dissemination (UNSD, 2011). Most countries have an all-embracing Statistics Act or National Law on Official Statistics that defines the roles and responsibilities of various actors but also establishes a code of conduct for data providers including penalties for data misuse and non-compliance. Strong legislation raises the status of official statistics which can ultimately help to break the vicious cycle of limited resources leading to unreliable statistics, thereby affecting the image of statistical agencies and reducing budgets for data collection and dissemination (PARIS21, 2005).

A well-established legal framework is the foundation of an effective and well-functioning NSS for the following reasons (UNSD, 2011):

• First, it gives the statistical compiler a legal mandate to collect and disseminate statistics and makes other sources of data available to the compiler. This is key to the production of migration data, which rely on a multiplicity of data sources. For example, administrative data on permits issued may be necessary to provide a more accurate representation of migration flows than data produced by statistical samples such as population censuses and household surveys.
• Second, it identifies and defines the national competent authority and the roles of governmental agencies in particular statistical domains. 
• Third, it is a prerequisite for establishing a high-quality system of official statistics.
• Fourth, it will increase public confidence in the treatment of reported data, especially personal data, by government stakeholders. Public confidence is gained by setting up provisions guaranteeing the protection of individual data and restricting its use to specified purposes only.
• Fifth, it assists in the implementation of an integrated approach to migration statistics, as only well-coordinated efforts of several agencies can guarantee the successful compilation and dissemination of such statistics. 
• Finally, it sets up penalties on data reporters who fail to comply with reporting procedures, for example by submitting delayed, incomplete or unreliable data.

Statistical legislation typically provides a clear mandate for access to data from all administrative data sources and existing registers held by public authorities and private data holders. However, there might be cases where legislation regarding the protection of individual data in administrative sources do not allow the transmission of these data to the producers of official statistics, even if the national law on official statistics provides a legal basis for this transmission. In this case, the option would be to strengthen provisions for the producers of official statistics to access micro-level administrative data through the national law on official statistics.

A national law on official statistics should provide the following elements (UNSD, 2022): 

• The definition of official statistics, to be distinguished from administrative information, and in compliance with the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (UNFPOS);
• Definitions of the key concepts used in the law and necessary for the interpretation of the legal text, such as statistical survey, administrative data, statistical unit, individual data, etc.;
• Criteria for identifying the producers of official statistics;
• The tasks for the NSO and the chief statistician, especially in relation to coordination and planning;
• The process for developing multiannual and annual programs, user consultations, the involvement of the Statistical Advisory Council, decision process, etc.;
• The mandate for data collection ensuring access to administrative data and other data sources;
• The principles and procedures for handling confidential statistical data;
• Quality criteria and mechanisms/procedures for ensuring high quality;
• Principles for dissemination securing equal treatment of users and user-friendly dissemination.

• The annex of the previous Handbook of Statistical organization (UNSD, 2003);
• The Model Bill on Statistics in the Caribbean region (CARICOM, 2016) addressing the specificities of small island developing states in that region;
• The Model Statistics Law in the Context of the African Charter on Statistics (AU, 2016) is also an example aiming at assisting countries that would revise their legislation in that region;
• The Generic Law on Official Statistics for Latin America (ECLAC, 2020);
• The Guide on the Generic Law for Official Statistics in Arab Countries (ESCWA, 2023).
• The Generic Law on Official Statistics based on international recommendations and findings of Global Assessments of national statistical systems conducted in the countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (UNECE, 2016). 

The NSS of a country comprises the NSO and all other producers of official statistics in the country. The governing and coordination arrangements of the NSS vary from country to country. These arrangements may be legally binding and required by the statistical laws of the country, or they may be somewhat informal and pragmatic. In many countries, the arrangements for cooperation are reinforced by formal agreements, such as memoranda of understanding (MoUs) setting out in detail the role and responsibilities of the different partners (UNSD, 2022). 

Ideally, the NSS should meet the following criteria: common legal base, common implementation framework, common UNFPOS, i.e., applying the same set of standards, methods and definitions based on international recommendations, and defined function of a leader or chief statistician (UNSD, 2022).

A successful NSS should have the flexibility to respond to changing conditions and circumstances without needing to change its primary legislation frequently. A statistical system that on one side ensures the stability of key principles and structures with the necessary flexibility might combine several legal instruments: 1) a national law on official statistics which remains more general; 2) regulations, orders, or decrees implementing the national law and dealing with specific issues; and 3) guidelines and handbooks clarifying technical and methodological issues in more detail (UNSD, 2022).

NSSs can range from more “centralized” to more “decentralized”. NSSs are more centralised when most products of the NSS are produced and disseminated by a central organisation, such as the NSO. Conversely, systems are more decentralised when statistics are produced by many different Ministries and Agencies that are more closely tied to a specific sector – such as health statistics being produced by the Health Ministry. Most NSSs lie between these two extremes: such as Mozambique where education and health statistics are produced by the respective Ministries but the NSO produces most of country’s statistics and has overall responsibility for the NSS. While centralized systems tend to be stronger on data quality and integrity, they tend to struggle on relevancy especially in relation to specific sector in which statistics need to be frequently updated in line with current trends and policymaking (PARIS21, 2005).

Figure 1: Strengths and limitations of (de)centralized NSSs

(Source: PARIS21, 2005)

Finally, close cooperation between the NSO and other producers of official statistics is strongly recommended in international fora and is exercised in most countries. Most countries recognize the role of the NSO in providing the professional leadership of the NSS. The NSO is the designated specialized statistical agency of the government. Official statistics are its main – and often only – concern. It is expected to have the greatest oversight over the needs for official statistics and the extent to which they are satisfied. Moreover, the NSO is most often the country’s representative in the international statistical cooperation with the responsibility of ensuring that international standards and recognized scientific methods and procedures are followed. In some contexts, however, the NSO may lack the authority to coordinate a NSS and when it comes to migration data, specifically, other agencies, such as the Ministry of Interior, may hold ownership over the most relevant data. In these contexts, close cooperation, founded on an inter-ministerial working group is crucial.

-In Burkina Faso, Law Nr. 012-2007/ AN on the organization and regulation of statistical activities and the Roadmap for Statistics 2004-2009, the Revision of 2009 identify the National Institute of Statistics and Demography (NISD) as the main structure in charge of data collection and production. To this aim, the NISD works closely with the General Directorate of Studies and Sector Statistics (DGESS) integrated in the different ministries.

-In Niger, the 2017-2021 Strategy for the Development of Statistics assigns the responsibility for the national coordination of the NSS to the NSO, as well as the establishment of rules for the production and dissemination of basic statistics, technical support, training and data centralization. Among other tasks, the NSO is also responsible for the production and dissemination of demographic and social statistics, including on migration. It collaborates closely with the Statistical Directorates that are integrated within all ministries.

-In Côte d´Ivoire, Law Nr. 2013-537 of 30 July 2013 on the organization of the NSS identifies the NSO as the Secretariat of the Council of the national statistical system, in charge of supporting its implementation and orientation, as well as coordinating cooperation including between data users and producers. The Law Nr. 2013-537 identifies the following bodies as part of the NSS: statistical services of ministries and public and para-public institutions, services in charge of data collection and institutions proving education on statistics and demography.