The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will organize a five-day regional CountrySTAT training for ECO Member States. The event will take place from 21-25 October 2013 in the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC).

CountrySTAT is a web-based information system on food and agriculture which provides easy access to statistical data of good quality that can aid decision-makers in better, evidencebased policy-making and greater efficiency in development politics. Nationally owned and maintained, it serves as a one stop centre that enables the collection and harmonization of timely and reliable official data from different sources and their integration in a common location. Data provided through CountrySTAT serves researchers, policymakers,
development organizations, and the private sector to design and implement better policy and investments in agriculture.

The purpose of the training is to provide national delegates from the ECO member- States with skills and experience on how to use the CountrySTAT platform for the dissemination of official statistics on food and agriculture and the comprehensive process to upload data. It will also provide an excellent opportunity for members of ECO to work together under the direction of the Regional CountrySTAT Secretariat and to further promote the use of CountySTAT at regional and national levels. Mr. Mustafa Sinaceur, Sub-Regional Coordinator for Central Asia, will open the meeting.

Presentations will focus on the four “pillars” of CountrySTAT, namely:

(i) IT module and the data-uploading process;
(ii) Statistics module and data harmonization process;
(iii) Communications strategy;
(iv) Country coordination activities.

At the end of the workshop the participants will be able to apply the acquired knowledge, methodologies, and best practices related to the collection, harmonization and dissemination of official data related to food and agriculture using the CountrySTAT system.