Guest Editorial

We are very happy to sign the guest editorial of this dossier devoted to the theme of governance statistics. It includes 9 articles written by a total of 24 authors from countries located on three continents: Africa (Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar and Mali), America (Brazil, Canada and Peru) and Europe (France and Norway). The authors are researchers (economists, political scientists, etc.), executives of international organisations and statisticians. Among the latter, three Directors-General of national statistical institutes from Cabo Verde, Cameroon and Mali are to be commended.

This theme is fully recognised at the international level, particularly since the adoption by the United Nations in 2015 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), among which SDG 16 “Peace, justice and strong institutions” directly addresses governance issues. The creation, also in 2015, of a UN City Group on Governance Statistics chaired by the INE of Cabo Verde has helped to advance the methodology of this topic. The first article in this dossier presents the work of the Praia Group, which published in 2020 a Handbook on Governance Statistics. This article also highlights the work of the Praia Group Task Teams on Participation in Political and Public Affairs and on Non-Discrimination and Equality, which are two major dimensions of governance

INSEE and the French official statistical service, which closely follow the work of the Praia Group, are fully aware of the importance of this topic, as shown by the article in this issue written by statisticians from the Ministerial Statistical Office on Internal Security, devoted to the new annual survey on victimisation launched in 2022 by this service. This survey, the

results of which are being published at the time of publication of this dossier, replaces and complements the survey conducted annually since 2007 in partnership with INSEE, which is one of the oldest regular surveys on these issues worldwide.

This dossier is taken from a special issue of Stateco published on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. The journal, which is published in French, was created by INSEE in 1972 to capitalise on knowledge of statistical methodologies applied to developing countries. Fifty years after its creation, it continues to be an essential and unique forum for exchanges between statisticians working in the field of development. Since 2004, the journal has been published in partnership with Afristat, the Economic and Statistical Observatory for Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD). The publication of this issue was also part of the partnership between INSEE and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), to which two of the coordinators of the issue belong.

On reading this very rich dossier, one can see the two national and international dimensions of the subject. At the time of publication of this issue, a war of aggression is waged by Russia in Ukraine. This tragedy reminds us, if need be, of the burning topicality of this theme, which is unfortunately universal, and the indispensable role that official statistics must play in all circumstances.

Joao Cardoso

President of INE, Cabo Verde

Jean-Luc Tavernier

Director General of INSEE, France