Affiliations: [a] Former Director General of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Sion, Valais, Switzerland | [b] Former Senior Official of the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, NY, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Carlo Malaguerra, Former Director General of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Sion, Valais, Switzerland. E-mail:[email protected]
Abstract: In January 2014 the General Assembly of the United Nations endorsed the
Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, which was adopted by the
Statistical Commission of the United Nations in April 1994, following an
initiative of the Conference of European Statisticians. Valid and reliable
information is essential for the management of the affairs of a democratic
society aiming at generalised wellbeing and prosperity. It is important that
users and stakeholders of official statistics and the citizens at large have
total confidence in statistics. To produce valid and reliable statistics it
is necessary that Governments provide the legal framework and resources to
the statistical system of their countries to allow statisticians to produce
the required statistical information, without interference using the best
available methodology and techniques from the best suited sources of
information. Respondents, be they individual, enterprises or organisations,
have to provide the required information truthfully and as completely as
possible. Official statistics have to guarantee that such individual
information will be used for statistical purposes only. Moreover the results
of statistical enquiries have to be made available to all users without
distinction. Such basic requirements of official statistics were not
respected in the centrally planned economies before 1989 and even in some of
the countries with market economies. During the transition process toward
democracies and market economies of the countries from Eastern and Central
Europe it was recognized that official statistics plays an essential role
for preserving democracy and that its special and unique role should be
recognized by governments and the public at large. At the request of one of
the Eastern European countries the Conference of European Statisticians
proposed a Charter called ``Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics''
establishing the parameters to guarantee the production of valid and
reliable official statistics. As years passed, it was recognized that these
``Principles'' should have a universal validity. This was reached in 2014
with the endorsement of the ``Principles'' by the United Nations General
Assembly. Consequently the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics
have universal acceptance and should be adhered to by all nations and
societies. Suggestions are made ensure that the Fundamental Principles are
continued to be adhered to.
Keywords: Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, democratic society, functional independence
