(1st meeting) Statistical Commission, 57th Session

Distinguished delegates, please take your seats. Ladies and gentlemen, it's my great pleasure to declare open the 57th session of the Statistical Commission and call to order its first meeting. Dear colleagues, Excellencies, before we proceed with the election of the new Chair, I would like to make 3 points. First, the past 2 years have shown how dramatically our information environment has changed. We face an industrial scale of information and disinformation driven by automated systems and AI that can sound convincing without always being correct. In this context, official statistics are democratic infrastructure, but this role only holds if our data and metadata is and are findable, understandable, and machine-readable. The Friday seminar on AI readiness reminded us that a trusted, interoperable metadata layer, with data remaining at their source, is essential. Our action is clear: we must strengthen the foundation of trusted data, and the City Group we hope to establish today will bring all work related to AI readiness together. Secondly, the Statistical Commission must evolve within a changing UN system. The Secretary-General's UN80s initiatives aim to make the UN more agile, coherent and effective by improving efficiency, modernization, structures, aligning mandates and strengthening system-wide coordination. It brings together reforms across peace, development, human rights, data and technology into a unified action plan. As these reforms move into their political phase, Member States will shape how far they go. The Statistical Commission should position itself as a strategic actor in this transformation, ensuring that data standards and statistical governance remain at the heart of a modernized UN. Finally, third, as a Member State, we operate within international law and the human rights framework. The 2030 Agenda gives us a shared vision, even if it is under pressure. It remains our common reference point to accountability, transparency, and sustainable development. Our data and statistical system must therefore uphold the principles of the UN Charter, support human rights, and provide the trusted evidence base needed to deliver on the 2030 Agenda. In short, we need trusted data, we need an evolving Commission, and we need to reaffirm our foundation in international law. Thank you very much. Distinguished delegates, we shall immediately proceed with the first item on the agenda, entitled Election of Officers. For the current session, I invite— nominate for the position of the Chair The election will be held in accordance with the rules of procedure for the Functional Commission of the Economic and Social Council, particularly Rule 66. I give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Dominican Republic.

It's a pleasure for me to put forward the candidacy of Ms. Graciela Márquez Collín of Mexico. Of the GRULAC to be elected chair of the Statistical Commission for this session. Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished delegate of the Dominican Republic. Are there any further nomination for the chair? I see none. Distinguished delegate, in the absence of any other nomination, May I take it that the Commission wishes to elect by acclamation Ms. Graciela Márquez Collín of Mexico as Chair of the Statistical Commission to preside over its 57th session? I hear no— formally, I hear no objection. It's so decided. I congratulate Ms. Graciela Marcel Collin on her election as the Chair of the Statistical Commission and invite her to take her place on the podium and assume the function of the Chair.

Distinguished members of the Commission, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. I wish to thank the Commission for the confidence placed in me through my election as Chair of its 57th session. Please allow me to make a few opening remarks before we proceed. Robust methodologies, broad thematic coverage with inclusive approaches and continuous technological innovation constitute the pillars of the work carried out by statistical offices in the 21st century. Each component of the agenda that we will work on over the next 4 days closely reflects all of these pillars in each and every of its components. Our agenda follows up the different mandates and resolutions taken up during previous sessions, but behind every advancement to be discussed in this session lies meticulous and coordinated work aimed at providing the necessary inputs to reach agreements in the best possible manner. The achievements attained are even more valuable when we consider the existing challenges. As became evident during last Friday's seminar, The data ecosystem is becoming increasingly complex. Therefore, providing trusted data is essential for informed decision-making. However, we must work diligently to ensure that the trusted data produced by national statistical offices is accessible to all users with transparency and timeliness. The 57th session of the Commission marks a milestone by strengthening the inclusive and representative nature with the completion of the first phase of the process to expand the membership to 34 representatives. I am confident that with the participation of all those involved in the Commission, we will overcome current challenges for the benefit of all of our countries. Thank you very much. I now invite the Commission to proceed with the election of the 3 vice chairs and the rapporteur in accordance with the rules of procedure of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council. Are there any nominations for these positions? I give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Netherlands.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It is my pleasure to nominate the following officers for for the 57th session of the Statistical Commission. Mr. Behzod Hamraev of Uzbekistan from the Group of Asia-Pacific. Mr. Polonija Oblak-Flandar of Slovenia from the Group of Eastern European States. And Mr. Markus Suvala of Finland of Western Europe and Others as vice chairpersons. And Mr. Oussama Mahrezli of Morocco of the Group of Africa as rapporteur. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of the Netherlands. Are there any further nominations? I see none. In the absence of any other nominations, may I take it that the Commission wishes to elect by acclamation The following candidates for vice chairs: Mr. Markus Suvala of Finland, Ms. Apollonia Oblak Flanda of Slovenia, and Mr. Behzod Hamraev of Uzbekistan. And as rapporteur, Mr. Oussama Marsali of Morocco. I hear no objection. It is so decided.

Felicito a los—

I congratulate the vice chairs and the rapporteur upon their elections, and I look forward to working closely with all of them to bring this session to a fruitful conclusion. I now have the honor to invite the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Mr. Lee Jun-hwa, to make a statement. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, Dear colleagues, it is an honor for me to address the United Nations Statistical Commission at the moment of transformative change. First of all, let me extend my warm congratulations to the election of the Bureau. Under your leadership, I'm pretty sure this session will end up with a resounding success. Across the world, expectations and demand for high-quality data and statistics have never been higher. At the same time, the institutional, financial, and technological landscape in which official statistics are produced are undergoing rapid and profound change. In this environment, the work of this Commission remains most essential. Advances in artificial intelligence are already reshaping our field. These technologies offer unparalleled opportunities to improve the timeliness, reduce the costs, and expand analytical capacity. Yet they also raise the fundamental questions about transparency, bias, accountability, and a widening readiness gap among the member states. The world is also changing in other ways, and our data and statistical systems must adapt. Rapid urbanization, aging populations, migration involving household structures, and shifting labor markets are transforming societies at a pace that demand more than traditional data systems can provide. With the demographic, social, economic, environmental, and technological shifts happening worldwide and rapidly, I'm pleased that this Commission is considering a new central framework for population and social statistics to address the challenges of siloed evidence across multiple domains and to close the persistent information gap about the people's lives and society. Without reliable disaggregated and timely social data and statistics, our commitment to inclusion, equity, and leaving no one behind will remain an aspiration rather than an operational reality. Similarly, we must look beyond GDP. There is a growing consensus that a focus on economic output alone is insufficient to measure truly human progress. The Commission's work recognizes that wellbeing, sustainability, and social cohesion are central to policy choices. This agenda is not about abandoning the established economic indicators, but rather complementing them with measures that capture what truly matters to people's lives. The Commission has a unique role in ensuring these emerging frameworks that go beyond GDP are conceptually sound, statistically robust, and usable by countries at all levels of development. These developments place data governance at the forefront. As data ecosystems draw from a growing range of sources, the principles governing access, stewardship, and use become as vital as the data itself. The Commission's leadership on data governance is critical to safeguarding quality, protecting rights, and ensuring innovation proceeds within clear ethical boundaries. Trust, once lost, is difficult to restore, and official statistics must remain a trusted public good. All of this is unfolding against a backdrop of institutional reform and financial pressures, including the system-wide changes associated with the UNAID initiative. As the United Nations looks towards its future, questions of relevance, efficiency, and impact are rightly at the forefront. Investing in data and statistics is not an option. Past reorganizations have shown that reform succeeds only when core analytical and statistical capacities are protected and strengthened. The contributions of my department, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, to this process is the development of the UN System Data Commons, which was initiated by the Secretary-General in his UN80 Initiative, which actually builds directly on the earlier decisions of this Commission. I am convinced that the deliberations of this session of the Commission will shape how our data and statistical systems adapt to technological change respond to the social and economic transformation, and measure the progress for years to come. I thank you for your continuous commitment, your expertise, and your stewardship of this vital work. Thank you so much for your attention.

I thank the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. The support that he expressed for our work is highly appreciated. I understand that the Under-Secretary-General has other engagements and must leave us at this point. I thank him once again for honoring us with his presence this morning. Thank you very much. Distinguished delegates, I now invite the Commission to turn to Agenda Item 2, Adoption of the Agenda and Other Organisational Matters. For this item, the Commission has before it documents ECN3/2026/1, and E/CN3/2026/L1. I now give the floor to the Secretary of the Commission.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to report that all official documents for this session were submitted and issued on time in all 6 official languages. They are available online along with other resources on the Commission's website. I take this opportunity to remind delegations to kindly contact the focal points in their respective missions to get registered in both the list of participants and announcements modules on the Statistical Commission on the eDelegate portal. This will ensure that participation is accurately recorded and that delegations receive any announcements circulated during the session. Further, the preliminary list of participants will be circulated tomorrow morning, Wednesday, 4 March, via an announcement on the eDelegate portal, and it will also be available on the Commission's website. It will include only members of delegations who have registered their representatives through eDelegate. Please submit any updates or corrections by Friday, 13 March 2026 via eDelegate so that they can be reflected in the final list, which will be issued after the session. Any questions regarding the list may be directed to my colleague Victor Liu, whose email address is listed in the UN Journal. Before concluding, and in order to facilitate the work of interpreters, I would like to kindly remind delegations to speak at a reasonable pace and to send a copy of the statements they will deliver to e-statements@un.org. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Doy las gracias a la secretaria.

I thank the Secretary for the useful information provided. The Commission will now begin its consideration of the annotated provisional agenda for this session that is contained in document E/CN3/2026/1. In line with the structure introduced since 2006, the annotated provisional agenda makes a distinction between items for discussion and decision those for decision, and those for information. For the items for decision and discussion, the Commission will first hear a brief oral introduction from the respective authors of the reports. Thereafter, the floor will be open for debate. I would like to stress that once deliberations on each of these items are concluded, they will not be reopened at a later stage. The Commission will take decisions on these items on Friday. As for the items for decision, and in the interest of maximising the use of time available to us, they will be introduced and summarised individually on Thursday. But no further debate is expected. The Commission will take decisions on these items also on Friday. However, the Bureau recognizes that there may be a need for interventions on some of the topics under this item. To better manage our time, I urged delegations to inform the Secretariat by Wednesday afternoon if they intend to take the floor on specific for decision sub-items. Items for information will not be introduced. In line with past practice, the Commission is expected to take note of the information documents without further debate. In the interest of time. And as was done in the past, when we consider the information items, I will invite the Commission to take note of all information items en bloc. However, the Bureau recognises that there might also be a need for interventions on some of the topics under this item, mainly to provide the Commission with clarifications and updates on recent developments. To better manage our time, I urge delegations to inform the Secretariat before Thursday morning whether they intend to take the floor on specific information sub-items. May I take it that the Commission wishes to adopt its annotated provisional agenda contained in document E/CN3/2026.1. I hear no objections. It is so decided. I now invite the Commission to consider its provisional program of work and timetable, which is contained in document E/CN3 /2026/L1. Are there any comments or observations regarding the provisional programme of work and timetable? I see no requests to take the floor. May I take it that the Commission wishes to approve its provisional programme of work and timetable for the 57th session? Contained in document E/CN3/2026/L.1, with the understanding that it may be further adjusted if necessary as the session proceeds. I hear no objection. It is so decided. I would like to emphasize at this point that our subsequent formal meetings will begin at 10 AM or 3 PM sharp in this conference room. Making efficient use of our time is of the utmost importance. While recognizing the importance of interactive professional exchange, which is at the core of our work, I would like to urge all participants to avoid including detailed expositions of methodology or the reporting of routine activities and national practices in their interventions. To facilitate the process, it may be necessary to impose time limits on interventions. Particularly if the speakers list becomes too long relative to the time available for discussing specific agenda items. In such cases, I will announce the time limit to be observed. During this session, we will maintain the Commission's practice of breaking for informal consultations of about 10 minutes as necessary. To enable us to better prepare for substantive deliberations on the issues before us. Furthermore, it should be noted that the report of the Commission on its current session will have an overall reduction in word count of approximately 10%. This measure forms part of the broader austerity measures being applied across the Secretariat to all reports. Every effort will, however, be made to ensure that the most important points are reflected in the reports. Your understanding and support in this regard would be greatly appreciated. Distinguished delegates, I would like to inform the Commission that some intergovernmental organizations that do not have consultative status with the Economic and Social Council nor observer status in the General Assembly have expressed their interest in participating in our work during this session as observers. They are as follows: 1. The Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics. 2. The Bank for International Settlements. 3. The Central African Economic and Monetary Community.

4.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. 5. The Eastern Africa Statistical Training Center, 6, the Economic and Statistical Observatory of Sub-Saharan Africa, and 7, the Eurasian Economic Commission. May I take it that the Commission wishes to invite those organizations to participate as observers in the work of its 57th session? I hear no objection. It is so decided. I also wish to extend a warm welcome to the representatives of civil society organizations participating as observers in this session of the Commission. Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development There has been a marked increase in the level of interest in the Commission's work. While it is gratifying to see a high level of attendance, we also have significant space constraints. Consequently, the representatives of non-governmental organizations can only be accommodated in the gallery. This is due to time constraints, and it will not be possible for them to take the floor to make statements. I now invite the Commission to turn to its consideration of agenda item 3A, entitled Working Methods of the Statistical Commission, under which the Commission has before it for discussion and decision The report of the Bureau of the Statistical Commission on the working methods of the Commission, contained in document E/CN.3/2026/2. Background documents are also available on the Commission's website. I will now introduce the report. I will present this report in English.

Distinguished delegates, colleagues, on behalf of the Bureau, I would like to give a brief introduction to the report of the Bureau on the working methods. The report provides an overview of the work carried out by the Bureau of the intersessional period. As the membership enlarges over the next few years, it is important for the discussions within the Commission to continue to support the national statistical systems within countries as they work in the broader data landscape. The report highlights the next steps in the assessment mechanism to evaluate progress towards a more inclusive and representative Commission. At its 56th session, the Statistical Commission endorsed the terms of reference of the Consultative Advisory Board and requested the Bureau to initiate the selection process for members for appointment by the Commission at its 57th session. Session. In line with the endorsed terms of reference, an open and consultative identification procedure was applied involving the Bureau, the 5 United Nations regional commissions, and the Statistics Division, resulting in the proposed composition submitted to the Commission for endorsement, as set out in the background document. Over the past intercessional period work, the Bureau extensively discussed AI readiness for official— of official data and statistics and the importance of the role of the Commission. On Friday, we heard about efforts and work on AI readiness of official data statistics, and Mr. Murensi of Rwanda will share a short summary. In the report and the related background document, there is a call to establish a working mechanism on the topic. The background document proposes the creation of a city group under the leadership of Rwanda. The proposed objective of this city group is to strengthen the AAIE readiness of official data and statistics globally so that AI systems reliably discover, correctly interpret, and transparently cite and properly use authoritative sources, thereby enhancing evidence-based policymaking and public trust. In the coming year, the The forthcoming work on the topic of Beyond GDP will need to be addressed by the Bureau and the Commission. We will hear a summary of the Monday forum, which focused on Beyond GDP, from Mrs. Oblak-Flander from Slovenia. As mentioned above, I would like to draw your particular attention to paragraph 30 of the report, which contains the points for discussion for us today. Thank you. Now back to Spanish. Antes de proceder—

Before proceeding further, I will give the floor in turn to Mr. Ivan Morenzi of Rwanda to brief us on the discussions held during Friday's seminar. On AI readiness, and to Ms. Apollonia Oblak-Flandre of Slovenia to brief us on the discussions held during Monday's forum on the topic of Beyond GDP. First, I give the floor to Mr. Ivan Morenzi of Rwanda.

Distinguished delegates, chair, I am honored to report back from the Friday seminar on emerging issues, AI readiness for official data and statistics, which took place on Friday, 27th February 2026, and the high-level webinar on leveraging AI in the Production of Official Statistics, held on 18th February 2026. The opening session at the Friday seminar underscored this, that statistical dissemination is changing fundamentally in the age of AI, as users increasingly access official statistics through AI systems rather than through official websites. Keynote speakers emphasized that AI readiness requires designing output for both human and machine users, including greater discoverability, richer, fit-for-use metadata, clearer attribution, and better preservation of context. They stress that AI readiness requires data stewardship and highlight real-world examples in which AI systems can misrepresent official statistics by producing outputs with weak provenance, and outdated or incorrect data. Session 2 provided a technical framing of AI readiness across 4 layers, namely semantics, delivery, discovery, and integration. Session 3 explored the components of data governance such as guardrails, licensing, benchmark testing. Both sessions stress the need for partnership and collaboration, including with AI providers, experimentation, and human and institutional capacity development. The concluding session reiterated the themes and the recommendations of the previous sessions, highlighting the need to change our mindset regarding data discrimination and to take ownership. It recognized the need for human and institutional capacity for AI readiness for both production and dissemination, and the willingness of policymakers to invest in concrete proposals. It also recognized the SETSCO Commission's role as the standard-setting body, including for metadata standards, and the importance of practical steps way forward and shared progress. Speaking of practical steps way forward, the work ahead calls us to work together and share experiences. In this regard, the Chigari City Group on AI provides a timely and collaborative mechanism. It will serve as a global hub consolidating and harmonizing ongoing efforts across various subgroups and initiatives. It's not— its purpose is not to duplicate existing work, but to complement, strengthen it, and ensure coherence and practical guidance for all countries. We therefore call on all member states and partners to actively engage and support this important collaborative effort.

Thank you.

I thank Mr. Morenzi. Next, I give the floor to Ms. Apollonio Oblak-Flanda of Slovenia.

Distinguished Madam Chair, dear colleagues, it's my pleasure to brief the Commission on the High-Level Forum on Official Statistics held yesterday under the theme "Beyond GDP: Rethinking Progress in a Changing World." The forum discussed the latest developments in the topic at the UN and ways in which NSOs could respond to the global call for metrics that better reflects progress, complementing or going beyond GDP. Under-Secretary-General Guy Ryder delivered remarks on behalf of the Deputy Secretary-General by recalling the establishment of the independent High-Level Expert Group as requested by the member states in the Pact for Future. He invited the statistical community to translate the Agenda's ambition into practice, stressing that better metrics matter only if they influence policy. A keynote on behalf of the Beyond Lab and the Youth Network on Beyond GDP called for new measures to be co-created with those who will inherit them. Representatives of the High Level Expert Group presented the group's conceptual framework for equitable, inclusive, and sustainable well-being and previewed the proposed dashboard of indicators, noting that roughly half are drawn from the SDG framework. The experts also outlined a data and research agenda, emphasizing that the need for investment in national statistical systems to enable regular dashboard publication to inform policies and budgets. Subsequent speakers came from some of the Commission's active groups in related areas and from supporting institutions. They examined design issues while stressing the importance of national ownership and early policymaker-statistician dialogue, as well as the need for a core set of mature indicators with deeper foundations for policy. This aggregation was also called for, with the Global South being a full partner in design and implementation. The closing session emphasized the Statistical Commission being well-placed for advancing this work, ensuring harmonized concepts, standardized methods, comparability over time,, and efficient data flows building on existing mechanisms. Support for national statistical systems, particularly in the Global South, through technical assistance and financing to match mandates will be essential. The agenda must align with and build on existing standards and capacity development efforts, accommodate differences across countries, and attend to the enabling conditions, resources, institutions, and trade-offs that underpin outcomes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Agradezco a la señora—

I thank Ms. Oblak-Flanders. The Commission will now begin its debate on the report of the Bureau of the Statistical Commission on the working methods of the Commission. Contained in document E/CN.3/2026/2 and on the two briefings we have just heard. I propose that we focus our debate in a first phase on the report itself and on the topic of AI readiness discussed during Friday's seminar. And in a second phase on the Beyond GDP topic discussed during Monday's forum. I kindly ask all delegations to limit their interventions to the specific focus of each phase of the debate. With the concurrence of the Commission, we shall now proceed with the first phase of our debate focusing on the report contained in document E/CN.3/2026/2 and on AI readiness. I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Canada.

Thank you, Chair, and congratulations on your appointment. Canada recognizes the significant efforts of the Bureau's intercessional work to streamline activities and liaise with stakeholders to advance sound statistical practices across the UN. We appreciate the work of the Stats Division to provide reference materials well in advance of the session, allowing member states to adequately review and reflect on the important work of the Commission. With respect to the fundamental principles of Official Statistics Advisory Board, we thank the Bureau for selecting inaugural members and endorse the proposed list. And we take note of the proposed, uh, proposal to consider a review of the environmental pillar of sustainable development and agree that it could be considered at a future time when resources and capabilities allow. Taking note of the seminar on AI readiness held on Friday, Several important considerations were raised, um, for the statistical community. AI systems are increasingly acting as intermediaries between users and official statistics, and this shift raises important questions about how official data, um, are sourced, attributed, and interpreted by AI-generated responses. The seminar also highlighted implications for automated traffic, including AI crawlers, agentic systems interacting with NSO infrastructures and the resulting pressures on dissemination platforms. While these issues continue to evolve, the discussion reinforced the needs for coordinated international approaches, particularly with respect to standards, machine-readable metadata, structured engagement with AI tools. In this context, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom welcome the proposal to establish the Kigali City Group on AI Readiness and Official Data and Statistics, and thank Rwanda for their generous offer to support the group. Given the importance of this work and the rapid advancement of AI technologies, it will be critical for the statistical community to align around shared priorities and avoid duplication of effort. We support the— we support coordination with related groups work underway in existing expert groups and regional commissions to promote coherence and maximize impact with available international resources. We suggest one of the activities of the group is to work with other related groups to map existing work. While we support the CETA group in principle, we believe the terms of reference and modus operandi should be developed by, by the membership of the group itself. As such, we are not in a position to endorse the draft proposal as presented in the background note. Once convened, members of the city group should develop the terms of reference, including its scope and deliverables, prior to the submission of the Bureau for consideration. Canada looks forward to participating in city group and working with colleagues to shape its scope and deliverables. Thank you, Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Canada, and I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of the Russian Federation.

Um, thank you, Chair. We'd like to congratulate you on your appointment, and firstly, we'd like to express our gratitude to the the Bureau and the Secretariat of the Commission for the work that they've done to create the Consultative Advisory Board on the fundamental principles of official statistics, and we support the proposed membership of the Board. It is balanced and it includes experts with a great level of experience and authority in statistics. At the same time, I would like to note that the process for selection of the Board was insufficiently transparent transparent, particularly regarding countries who put forward candidates. There was no feedback mechanism provided, and countries who submitted proposals only knew what decision had been taken when the documents were published for the Commission. In the future, we'd urge you to ensure transparency of this procedure, and we plan on submitting a candidate from our country in the next rotation of the Board. Moreover, we fully support the creation of the City Group. On the use of AI in official statistics. We believe the creation of this group to be a very timely decision, and now it's crucially important to systematise existing experience. It will help countries to adapt quickly to new opportunities and to leverage the benefits of best practices. On our side, we'd like to express our ready to— readiness to participate in this group. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of the Russian Federation, and I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Cuba.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Since it's the first time that we are taking the floor, we wish to express the gratitude of our delegation to you upon your election to head the Commission during this session. The Cuban delegation takes note and recognizes the work of the Secretariat and the Bureau to most objectively draft the documentation for the current period of sessions for the optimal management of time, as explained in the document. What's more, we analysed the update of the Consultative and Advisory Board on the fundamental principles of official statistics and the procedure applicable for the identification of candidates and the way forward, which in our view are coherent with the decision adopted. On the list proposed of members contained in the annex, we agree with its adoption. We believe that it's useful and timely to create a study group on preparedness of, of AI readiness and the proposal to the Bureau that will finalize the mandate presented as a background document and the request to the study group to inform back to the Commission during the next session. Madam Chair, in Cuba, since the middle of 2025, we have had a decree law on statistics that complements the implementation of digital transformation, transparency, and access to information. In this step, we recognize that our Office leads and coordinates everything to do with this issue. Nevertheless, we wish to emphasize the fact that due to the current scenario of the economic and trade embargo imposed against my country that has a direct impact on the supply of fuel, which has a direct effect not only on the living conditions of our people, but it also affects our access to technology, to ICTs, and scientific research and international cooperation, among other things that this Commission's mandate deals with. Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Cuba. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Finland.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This statement is delivered on behalf of the European Union and its member states. The EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland aligned themselves with the statement. The European statistical system welcomes the work initiated by the Bureau and the associated initiatives on the topic of AI readiness of official data and statistics. Recognizing the urgency of the matter, As AI-enabled services are rapidly transforming information ecosystems and misleading or incorrect representations of official statistics are already emerging, the European statistical system emphasizes the need for timely and collaborative response. The European statistical system supports the establishment of a Citigroup on AI Readiness of Official Data and Statistics aimed at advancing the work on improving discoverability and usability of official data and statistics by AI-based search engines and services. The European Statistical System encouraged the Citigroup to focus on the development of machine-readable metadata standards which are accessible by AI interfaces. As it comes to working methods, the ESSC supports the continued voluntary use of written comments, recognizing their value in broadening the range of views and facilitating more focused in-session discussions. The European statistical system welcomes the review of the structure and functioning of groups under the Statistical Commission, including pillar-based reviews and regionalization of group structures, and supports further clarification of mandates and coordination among groups in order to enhance effectiveness and and avoid duplication of work. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Finland. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Chile.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Distinguished delegates, Chile is grateful for the presentation of the report and appreciates the leadership of the Bureau during the intersessional periods, in particular their efforts to strengthen the efficiency, coherence, and inclusivity of the Commission. We believe that the streamlining of the program of work and the revision of the structure of the groups will contribute to a more strategic debate that is aligned with the challenges that today the global data system faces. We wish to focus our statement on an aspect that we believe to be a priority: the preparation of data and official statistics for artificial intelligence. We firmly support the creation of the working group on artificial intelligence readiness, and for Chile, this is not a future discussion, but rather this is a present challenge. The growing use of Large language models and automated systems to access, interpret, and reuse statistical information requires our statistical offices to adapt their standards, practices, and publication frameworks. In this context, we wish to inform you that within the framework of the Conference on Statistics of the Americas of CEPAL during the 2026 to 2027 biennial, we will set forth a working group headed up by our institution This group will draft a regional practical guide for the publication of data and metadata ready to be consumed by large language models. The goal is to strengthen concrete guidances for countries in the region to improve the discoverability, traceability, and appropriate use of official data with artificial intelligence. We believe that this regional effort can and must generate meaningful synergies with the group proposed today, the global group proposed today. Chile reiterates the fact that we stand ready to collaborate, to share lessons learned, and we express our interest to be part of this global body. We reiterate our interest in having a modern, um, commit— a body that is ready for AI, where data and artificial intelligence are addressed fully in line with our fundamental principles. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much to the distinguished delegation of Chile. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of the Republic of Korea.

Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, Republic of Korea extends our appreciation to the Bureau for its provision of guidance for the innovation— innovative response of national statistical offices in digital and AI transformation. We strongly support the establishment of a city group on AI readiness, which is very timely. Last year, the Korean government elevated Statistics Korea to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. This was a strategic measure to strengthen the nation's overarching coordination of national statistics as well as data, in order to create new synergies in the AI era through enhanced data integration and trust. This direction is closely aligned with the founding objectives of the CT Group. Under its new mandate, the Ministry is developing standardized metadata system and operating on advanced AI-powered statistical chatbot through public-private partnership. At the same time, in order to enhancing a robust foundation for the responsible use of AI, the ministry is planning to make a new law and internal guidelines of AI utilization. In this sense, Korea would like to express our intention to participate in the CT group and share its insights and experience obtained through its institutional upgrade, thereby contributing to the development of practical and effective international manuals on AI readiness. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of the Republic of Korea. I would now like to mention that we still have many speakers on our list, more than 18 at the last count anyway, for this part of the debate. So therefore, before I give the floor to the next speakers, I'd like to request the delegations to please kindly limit your statements to a maximum of 2 minutes each. This is necessary to ensure that all participants that wish to take the floor have the opportunity to do so. Your efforts to make concise statements will contribute to ensuring that everyone else also has the opportunity to take the floor. You may also send a more extensive, comprehensive version of your statements that you will deliver on the floor during this meeting. To e-statements@un.org to be published on the journal. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of The Gambia.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and congratulations for your election as the chairperson of this session. Madam Chair, I have the honor to deliver this statement on on behalf of the African Group. Chair Africa takes note of the report and commends the Bureau for its intercessional work to strengthen the Chair— the Commission's working methods and outreach. Madam Chair, Africa welcomes the continued practice of voluntary written comments, which has proven useful for broadening input and supporting effective time management, building on the lessons from the virtual In that spirit, Africa encourages expanded virtual and hybrid modalities, including remote participation in the meetings of statistical commission groups, to facilitate greater engagement of countries facing travel-related budget constraints. On these statistical commission groups, Africa notes reference framework and structural typology of groups, and the structural typology of groups, including city groups. AFCO stresses that it is essential to ensure strong regional representation in these groups so that discussions and output adequately reflect the priorities and realities of all regions, including developing countries. AFCO appreciates that African countries are members of these groups and recognizes the leadership of Cabo Verde in governance statistics. AFCO further encourages groups to organize more meetings and events in Africa alongside virtual options to strengthen participation and ownership. Chair, it is good to know that out of the 124 in-person meetings and events organized by all active groups, only 5 have happened in Africa. Regarding artificial intelligence, Africa notes that the Bureau emphasizes on the standardization and harmonization of official data and metadata to improve discoverability and usability by AI systems, including the proposed establishment of CD Group. Africa supports the establishment of CD Group on AI readiness and welcomes the proposal for Rwanda to host the CD Group. However, we would welcome a refinement of its terms of reference so that the work also addresses: one, how AI can support for the production of official statistics and do how to ensure that quality, transparency, and professional independence remain central when AI is used across the statistical production. Africa also supports an examination of the pillar on environment and climate change statistics with a view to rationalizing it and ensuring that it effectively delivers on its intended role. Finally, Africa supports Commission's endorsement of members of the Consultative Advisory Board on the fundamental principles of official statistics as proposed by the Bureau in accordance with the terms of reference and underscores the importance of maintaining fair regional and gender balance. AFCAC stands ready to encourage constructively in the— to engage constructively in the Commission's deliberations to enhance a more coherent country-driven and impact-oriented statistical capacity development ecosystem. Chair, I submit.

I thank the distinguished delegation of The Gambia, and I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of the United Kingdom.

Thank you, Chair.

The UK would like to I would like to reiterate the comments by Canada in relation to the Kigali City Group and fully support their intervention. We commend Rwanda for the important and timely offer to lead the group.

We agree with Canada that the City Group's terms of reference and modus operandi should be determined by its members before being sent to the Bureau for endorsement. This will ensure that the group is fully representative, that its members play an active role in discussions impacting the global community, and therefore reflect the diverse views of the Statistical Commission and its community.

The group needs first to take stock of the work already happening on AI and agree how best to coordinate it. We believe the group here should consider three important strands of AI within its work. This is how we make our statistics ready to feed into AI, how we adopt use of AI to produce statistics, and how we adapt statistics themselves so they measure the AI economy. It's not clear that the new standards for national accounts fully anticipated what we are now seeing with AI. Fundamentally, there are three topics here: readiness, adoption, and measurement. Finally, we would like to express our interest in joining the group, and we look forward to engaging in wide-ranging discussions on how to keep official statistics in step with the rapid developments we are seeing on AI. Thank you, Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of the United Kingdom I remind you of the 2-minute speaking time limit and the fact that you have the ability to make more comprehensive statements by submitting them to the journal. Now I give the floor to the distinguished delegation of South Africa.

Thank you, Chairperson. South Africa welcomes the proposal for the establishment of the Kigali City Group on AI readiness of official data and statistics. We acknowledge the leadership of Rwanda and support of the Switzerland initiative in regard to this group, which arrives at a critical juncture as national statistical offices globally seek to modernize their production systems through advanced technologies. South Africa supports the Kigali City Group formation as it aligns with the federated model of data innovation promoted by the Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics, particularly that by establishing it in Rwanda, We anchor this group within the role of Rwanda as a host for the United Nations Regional Hub for Big Data and Data Science in Africa, which will indeed empower regional infrastructure to benefit the entire CEBD network. On this note, Chair, let me echo the input by Canada and the UK. And also that the terms of reference for this city group should be finalized by members of this group. Furthermore, Chair, the work of the Kigali City Group could provide key contributions to the implementation of the CEBD 2024 terms of reference as AI and indeed non-traditional data sources data integration that are already core components of our collective mandate. We trust that the Kigali City Group will fully recognize and take into account the terms of reference for the CEBD. We look forward to the Kigali Group's support in implementing specific technical guidance on methodology capacity development, and privacy protection. Furthermore, Chairperson, let me indicate that we, we must ensure that the group's composition is balanced between Global North and South. While we value the experience of the UNECE High-Level Group on Modernization of Official Statistics, it is essential to include applications and perspectives specific to developing countries to ensure the resulting standards are globally applicable. We flag the potential challenge of funding for experts from the South. We urge that the Commission and the Kigali Group explore mechanisms to ensure that the participation of resource-constrained NSOs is not sidelined due to voluntary nature of this group. South Africa, Chair, believes that the regular interaction between the Kigali Group and the CEBD is critical. On that note, Chairperson, South Africa offers to be a member of this group. We need to ensure that the terms of reference for the Kigali Group are integrated within the strategic direction of the CEBD in that it will be mutually beneficial going forward. In conclusion, we remain committed to supporting Rwanda, the future chair, Mexico in making this initiative a success for the global statistical system.

I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of South Africa. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Singapore.

Thank you, Chair. Singapore commends the Bureau's efforts—

Thank you, Chair.

Singapore commends the Bureau's efforts to streamline the agenda through the Multi-Year Programme of Work and the consolidation of reports, which enhance coherence while managing the growing breadth of the Commission's mandate. We also endorse the members of the Advisory Board on the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics based on the proposal of the Bureau. Singapore also supports the establishment of the CDI Group on AI Readiness and views this as a timely and practical step to strengthen metadata, data discoverability, and responsible use of official statistics in an increasingly AI-enabled environment. The focus on improving AI discoverability and usability is important to ensure official data remain accessible in our evolving digital ecosystem, and that supports NSO's work to facilitate data access through search engines and AI bots. Thank you, Chair.

Doi lasgracias.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Singapore. And I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Jamaica.

Let me start by saying congratulations on your election as Chair of this session. We're very honored that you are from our region. I have the honor to deliver this intervention on behalf of the CARICOM community. We commend the Statistical Commission and the Bureau for their practice implementation of ECOSOC Resolution 24/2. The gradual expansion of the Commission membership from 24 to 54 by 2028 is a landmark development that significantly enhances inclusivity and representation within the global statistical system. We particularly welcome the implementation of the assessment framework, which establishes clear goals and indicators to ensure the Commission remains representative and diverse— representative of the global community. On the artificial intelligence and future readiness, CARICOM endorses the establishment of the city group on the artificial intelligence readiness of official data. As we enter the AI era, a metadata-first approach is essential to ensure official data remains discoverable, usable, and most importantly, trusted. In this regard, we entrust the bureau to finalize the TOR for this city group, and we also look forward to receiving the report at the next session. On governance and regional expertise, we are pleased to endorse the proposed members of the Consultative Advisory Board on the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. In particular, we welcome the inclusion of Dr. Philomene Harrison of Trinidad and Tobago. Her profound expertise in regional statistical governance will be a significant asset in safeguarding the fundamental principles within our rapidly evolving data landscape. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Jamaica. I will now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Saudi Arabia.

Distinguished Chair and delegates, over the past 2 years, the General Authority for Statistics in Saudi Arabia strategically integrated artificial intelligence into our statistical operation. We have launched several advanced use cases, including GeoAI applications that have already delivered substantial analytical value, enhanced data quality, and improved the timeliness of insights supporting national development priorities. As we move forward and launch our new strategy for 2026-2030, we have embedded a comprehensive AI strategy and a roadmap at the core of our transformation agenda. The roadmap prioritizes innovation and advanced analytics while ensuring strong governance, ethical safeguards, data protection, and sustainable implementation frameworks aligned with international best practices. In this context, we fully support the establishment of the CT Group on AI Readiness for Official Statistics. We believe this initiative will significantly strengthen global collaboration among national statistical offices, promote knowledge sharing, and accelerate the development of practical standards for responsible AI adoption in official statistics. We look forward to actively contributing to this important effort and to working collectively toward a trusted AI-enabled global statistical ecosystem. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Saudi Arabia, and I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Poland.

Madam Chair, distinguished delegates, Poland aligns itself with the common position of the European Union. We consider the proposal to establish a city group on AI readiness of official data and statistics to be of particular strategic importance. Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming one of the main channels through which information is searched, processed, and used. In this environment, ensuring that official statistics are easy to find, correctly interpreted, and properly cited is essential for maintaining trust in official Statistics. We therefore strongly support the establishment of the proposed CT Group as the practical and forward-looking step towards strengthening metadata standards, interoperability, and modern dissemination practices. We also welcome the emphasis on close cooperation with existing initiatives, including the High-Level Group for modernization of official statistics as complementarity and coordination will be crucial in this rapidly developing era. In this context, Poland sees value in contributing to the work of the proposed CT group and to the development of practical, globally applicable solutions. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Poland. And I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Switzerland.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Switzerland thanks the Bureau and the Secretariat for the comprehensive report. On working methods of the Statistical Commission. As the report shows, the Bureau has addressed various important issues during the intercessional period. Allow me to highlight two additional— two crucial topics for the future for the Commission: data governance and the use of new technologies as artificial intelligence. First, Switzerland wants to congratulate the establishment of the Working Group on Data Governance of the Statistical Commission. It crucial to discuss the topic, as today's data landscape requires not only solid methodology but also agility, interoperability, and readiness for the artificial— or for artificial intelligence. We need systems that make trusted data discoverable not just to experts but also to machines, because increasingly people access information through AI-based tools. Our metadata is quite often described for humans, but we need also to have metadata standards from machines. This alignment brings me to my second point. The bureau discussions on the AI readiness of official data and statistics are timely and necessary. With the emerge of the new technology, a new source of data, Switzerland strongly supports a proposal to have a deeper engagement about AI readiness within the Statistical Commission. AI readiness requires structured, standardized, and harmonized official data and the metadata so that they can be effectively used by AI systems. This shift towards a metadata-first approach is essential to ensure visible official statistics in an AI-driven environment. In 2022, the Statistical Commission was repositioned not only as a primary coordinator of the Global Statistical System, but also as a coordinator of data-related systems. As such, Switzerland is convinced that the cooperation should be extended to include the topic of metadata. Therefore, Switzerland strongly supports the establishment of a Citigroup on official intelligence— reuse of official data and statistics. And of course, we also would like to be happy to be part of this, aimed at promoting the standardization and harmonization of official data and metadata to improve their discoverability and usability by artificial intelligence systems. Switzerland would also like to thank the Bureau and the Statistical Division for their closer cooperation to finalize the establishment of the Consultative Advisory Board on the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. Finally, we encourage all members and observers of the Commission to actively contribute to these important discussions on data governance and AI readiness. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Switzerland. Before we continue, I would just like to remind you, or ask really, all delegations to please kindly limit your statements to 2 minutes maximum. This is necessary so that all participants can take the floor. Your efforts to make concise statements will contribute to ensuring that everybody else gets the opportunity to take the floor. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of India.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The National Statistics Office India takes note of the report of the Secretary General on working methods of the Statistical Commission and appreciates the sustained effort undertaken during the intercession period to enhance the effectiveness, inclusiveness, and coherence of the Commission's work. India underscores the importance of prior consultations with all the stakeholders, particularly in relation to the adoption of regulations and standards to enhance their wider acceptability. And so India emphasizes that effective data governance frameworks should reinforce trust, quality, transparency, and accountability while respecting national legal and institutional arrangements and the central coordinating role of national statistical offices. India also strongly supports the creation of Citigroup on AI readiness of official data and expresses its interest in serving as a founding member, highlighting its practical experience in AI-enabled statistical systems and contribution in international AI readiness initiatives. India further welcomes progress on consultative advisory board on the fundamental principles of official statistics reaffirms its commitment to strengthening global statistical cooperation, particularly in data governance, AI readiness, and the modernization of official statistics. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of India. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Oman.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

On behalf of the GCC, we value the role of the Bureau in order to develop the working methods through the use of modern technologies. We also support the expansion of the Commission for a better geographical more balanced geographic representation reflecting the diversity of national statistical systems in the Commission. Some GCC countries expressed their willingness to take part in the CT group. We also stress the importance of strengthening the role of regional organizations in the work of the Commission. The fast modern developments in especially the use of AI, must be taken into consideration, namely when it comes to ethical and responsible use of such technologies. We also stress the importance of balance between methodologies that are currently used, used, and modern sources of information. Regional international organizations must be agile and flexible when it comes to the use of modern data. In this endeavor, we also stress the importance of training programs in order to facilitate the development of national capacities in this regard. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Oman. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Brazil.

Buenos días, señora presidenta.

A very good morning, Madam Chair, distinguished delegates, distinguished colleagues. Brazil thanks you for presenting the Secretary-General's report on the working methods of the Statistical Commission submitted to us for our discussion and decision. In particular, when it comes to the intersessional work done by the Secretariat of the Commission during the period between March 2026 and February 2027, we believe that the taking of note by the Commission of the activities by the Secretariat is positive. Brazil also supports the nomination of the members of the Advisory Board on the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics following its approval by the Bureau. What's more, we support the creation of a new study group on AI readiness for statistical data with a view to promote the standardization and harmonization of data, official data and metadata. We ask the Secretariat to submit by May at the latest the draft terms of reference in line with the proposal and the group— and for the group to present a report on the activities for the 58th session. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Brazil I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Vietnam.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Vietnam knows with interest the focus on AI readiness of official data and statistics. We support the shift toward a metadata-first approach to ensure official data statistics remain machine-readable and interoperable and aligned with international standards in AI environments. We support the establishment of a CT group on AI readiness of official data and statistics to promote global standardization and harmonization of official data and metadata. Vietnam supports the development of a consultative advisory board on the fundamental principles of official statistics. As the membership grows, we emphasize that the Commission should prioritize statistical capacity building, especially for national statistical offices in developing and least developed countries, to ensure no one left be high in this transition. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Vietnam. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Indonesia.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Indonesia supports the establishment of the Working Group on Data Governance and welcomes. It focuses on developing common terminology framework and alignment with broader United Nations processes, including the Global Digital Compact. Close coordination with other relevant UN bodies will be very essential to maintain coherence, avoid overlap, and ensure the statistical perspective remains clearly articulated within wider data governance discussions. Statistics Indonesia welcomes the aim to bring the topic of citizen data to discussion regarding its potential to enhance data sources and concerning the respondent burden as one of major issues faced by the National Statistics Office right now. We also welcome the transparent and inclusive process for identifying members of Consultative Advisory Board on the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and support the endorsement of the proposed list. Indonesia underscores the importance of independence, professional expertise, and balanced regional representation in ensuring the credibility and practical relevance of the fundamental principles. Statistics Indonesia also strongly supports the focus on artificial intelligence readiness of official data and statistics and the proposed establishment of a CT group on AI readiness of official data and statistics. And Indonesia— and Statistics Indonesia would like to recommend that this group has to promote the standardization and harmonization of official data and metadata in order to improve their discoverability and usability of AI systems for official statistics. For your information, under Paris 21 Task Team on AI, Indonesia actively participated as a member of the team which is exploring responsible and effective use of AI for official statistics. Furthermore, for your information, Indonesia also has started utilizing artificial intelligence for our upcoming Economic Census 2026 that will start in the mid-year of 2026. Emphasizing a metadata-first approach, interoperability, and adherence to international standards, it is very timely and critical to ensuring that official statistics remain trusted and fit for use in AI-driven environments. Attention to practical implementation pathways for national statistics office at different stages of readiness would further enhance the impact of this work. We also support the use of AI to enhance statistical literacy, efficiency, and also to improve public understanding regarding the potential use to promote data and statistics. We agree with the clarified position that the Statistical Commission provides technical statistical expertise but does not define, develop, or maintain indices. This distinction appropriately preserves the Commission's technical integrity, neutrality, and role as a standard-setting body. Finally, Statistics Indonesia takes note of the Bureau's intention to further deliberate on citizen data in light of the broader review of social and demographic statistics and looks forward to a coordinated and conceptually clear approach that recognizes both innovation and the foundational principles of official statistics. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Indonesia. Before I give the floor to the next speaker, I remind you once again that there is a 2-minute speaking limit, please. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Sudan.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and congratulations for your appointment. Sudan aligns itself with the statement delivered on behalf of the Africa Group and appreciates the Bureau's proactive efforts to strengthen outreach and ensure that the Commission remains agile in an evolving data ecosystem. On AI readiness and data government, our delegations strongly endorses the establishment of the Kigali City Group on the artificial intelligence readiness of official data and statistics, and looking forward for a finalized effective term of reference. We agree that a metadata-first approach is essential to ensure official statistics are discoverable and usable by AI systems, thereby protecting public trust and preventing the misrepresentation of data. We also take note of the progress made by the working group on data governance and its role in developing common terminology that align with the Global Digital Compact. On this behalf, we would like to draw attention to the tradition data protection laws which are struggling to keep pace with AI ability to infer sensitive information from seemingly safe data set. That is why it's important to revise and adapt policies to conquer with AI readiness. Sudan remains committed to support and work collaboratively. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Sudan. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Mongolia.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Mongolia commends the work done by the Bureau and strongly endorses establishment of the CDI Group on the AI Readiness of Official Data and Statistics. We support the metadata-first approach, which aims to ensure metadata is machine-readable to enhance data discoverability by AI systems. We suggest that the terms of reference of the group to include a focus on ethical AI framework for official statistics. Furthermore, we support the endorsement of the proposed members of the Consultative Advisory Board on the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, recognizing their vital role in safeguarding professional independence in the era of increasing data complexity. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Mongolia. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Japan.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Japan welcomes the establishment of the CT group on AI readiness of official data and statistics. Japan hopes to cooperate with the city group in accordance with its activities. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Japan. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Malaysia.

Madam Chair, distinguished delegates, Malaysia welcomes the Working Group on Data Governance and views this initiative as both timely and necessary. Malaysia's experience highlights challenges related to data sharing across institutions, interoperability, common standards, and governance arrangements. In response, Malaysia has been strengthening national data governance frameworks, improving coordination between data producers and users,, and enhancing interoperability to support integrated trusted official statistics. Global guidance and shared best practices from the working group will be valuable in addressing these common challenges. Malaysia strongly supports the establishment of a CT group on artificial intelligence readiness of official data and statistics. And endorsed the proposed action, including the Bureau finalizing its terms of reference and reporting back to the Commission. This initiative is timely and directly addresses emerging challenges faced by national healthcare systems, including the need for structured, standardized, and interoperable data and metadata to ensure the visibility accuracy and responsible use of official statistics in AI-driven environment. In this regard, the Department of Statistics has begun leveraging AI-driven solutions, including the deployment of an Agrobot under the Tanistat 2.0 platform to enhance data collection, improve responsiveness, and strengthen user engagement. Malaysia acknowledged that Like many member states, it faces challenges related to data integration, metadata harmonization, AI readiness, and capacity constraints. In this regard, Malaysia welcomes continued technical assistance, peer learning, and practical guidance under the Commission framework and expresses its willingness to actively participate and contribute to the Commission work and other relevant initiatives. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Malaysia. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of the United Arab Emirates.

Madam Chair, The United Arab Emirates would like to commend the report and would like to welcome the proposals made in terms of data governance, particularly in terms of climate change and the changes happening on international level at the moment. We would underscore the importance of using artificial intelligence for— to promote national systems and promote the qualities of these systems, in addition to the fact that the members of the advisory group on data, on national data, as well as the importance of fundamental principles, are able to adapt to these changes and for the— to ensure the responsible use of emerging technologies. We would like to highlight ARIX, experience in the— using a national platform for data to bring together all the different methodologies and to ensure reliable use of national data. We were looking forward to cooperating with the Commission and different members to make sure that we have best adapted data to current changes. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of the United Arab Emirates. I give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Eurostat.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am providing a joint statement on behalf of the Committee for the Coordination Coordination of Statistical Activities, CCSA, which consists of 45 international and supranational organizations promoting the interagency coordination and cooperation on statistics. The Committee welcomes the operationalization of the Consultative Advisory Board on the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, which remains a cornerstone stone of our collective integrity and trust. The Committee supports the review of the structure and functions of the groups under the Statistical Commission. The Committee welcomes the proactive work on AI readiness of official statistics done by the Bureau, including the organization of the Friday seminar and the proposal for the establishment of a CT group. The topic was high on the— our agenda, the agenda of our committee in the last year, and we are pleased to contribute to the UN Statistical Commission reflections on the topic with two background papers presented under agenda item 5H, prepared by the World Bank with contributions from all CCASA members. The Committee concurs with the importance of establishing a framework that enables AI systems to effectively utilize official data and statistics, ensures that high-quality data remains at the heart of technological advancement. The Committee encourages collaboration of the proposed CT group on AI readiness with other groups working on the topic, such as the UNEC High-Level Group for the Modernization of Official Statistics, the Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science, and the ESCAP Data and Statistics High-Resonance Team on AI for Official Statistics. Finally, the committee consisting of 45 international organizations remains committed to fostering the spirit of innovation and partnerships to ensure official statistics continue to serve as a reliable foundation for the decision-making in the AI era. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Eurostat. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of CARICOM.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I congratulate you on your election as chair. I would like to support the intervention made by my colleague from Jamaica and join her and the rest of CARICOM in conveying our unequivocal support for our own CARICOM proposed member, Dr. Philomene Harrison, for the Consultative Advisory Board for the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. Dr. Harrison is an accomplished and visionary leader in official statistics, distinguished by her integrity, strategic foresight, and steadfast commitment to the principles of professional independence, scientific rigor, transparency, and accountability, and continues to serve as a steadfast lighthouse for the CARICOM statistical community. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of CARICOM. I will now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and congratulations. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights associates itself with the statement of the ECSA, and welcomes the continued efforts of the Bureau to establish a consultative advisory board on the fundamental principles of official statistics. OHCHR wishes to reiterate the deep and bidirectional linkage between the fundamental principles of official statistics and the respect, protection, and fulfillment of human rights. The provision of trustworthy, reliable, and relevant public of statistics as ensured by the fundamental principle is a necessary element in the fulfillment of the right to public information. Statistics produced in compliance with the fundamental principles are an essential tool to effectively monitoring rights, exposing inequalities, and informing remedies. At the same time, it must be recalled that protecting and fulfilling human rights is crucial for enabling the production of reliable and trustworthy statistics in accordance with the fundamental principle of official statistics. OHCHR commends the establishment of the Consultative Advisory Board and encourages its members to consider this interlinkage in the course of their work. Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished representative of the OHCHR for your contribution. I see no further requests for the floor. Before we move on to the second phase of our debate, it's now 12:19 PM, and I would propose that we suspend our meeting to have a brief break of 10 minutes, so we will resume our meeting at 12:29 PM sharp. The meeting is suspended.

This is the way.

Thank you, thank you.

This is you?

No, no, no, that's not me. Yes. Distinguished delegations. Distinguished delegates.

The meeting is resumed. Distinguished delegations, distinguished delegations, the meeting is resumed.

I don't like it. It's very—

I'd be very grateful if everyone could please take their seats.

Se reanuda la sesión.

The meeting is resumed.

Procederemos.

I'd be very grateful if everyone could please take their seats. We shall now proceed to the second phase, please. The meeting is resumed, distinguished delegates. We will now move to the second phase of our debate, which will focus on the Beyond GDP topic. I would like to remind delegations, please, to keep your statements below 2 minutes. Procederemos ahora a la segunda We will now proceed to the second phase of our debate, which will focus on the Beyond GDP topic. I would like to remind delegations to please keep their statements below 2 minutes. I see no requests for the floor. Would any delegation like to take the floor? I see no requests for the floor. I now invite Ms. Linda Hooper, statistician at the Office of the Director of the UN Statistics Division, to summarize our two-phase debate on the report. On the report. Thank you, Linda.

Thank you, Chair. The Commission welcomed the report of the Bureau and expressed its appreciation for the active engagement of the Bureau and work over the past intercessional period. The Commission took note of the need for review of the groups under the Commission and recommended to consider a review of the pillar on environment and climate change statistics at a future time. The Commission endorsed the list of members of the Consultative Advisory Board on the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics contained in the background note. The Commission welcomed the Monday Forum on Beyond GDP and was informed of the work of the High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP, its forthcoming report, and invited the Bureau to consider the necessary follow-up on the topic in the coming intercessional period and how to bring the topic into discussions at the 58th session in 2027. The Commission supported the establishment of a city group focusing on artificial Intelligent Readiness of Official Data and Statistics hosted by the National Institute of Statistics in Rwanda and entrusted the Bureau to finalize the draft terms of reference developed through a consultative process and requested the Citigroup to report back to the Commission at its 58th session in 2027. Thank you, Chair.

I thank Ms. Hooper. For her report. I now invite the Commission to begin its consideration of agenda item 3B, entitled Social and Demographic Statistics, under which the Commission has before it for discussion and decision the report of the Friends of the Chair Group on Social and Demographic Statistics. Contained in document E/CN.3/2026/3. Background documents are also available on the Commission's website. I now give the floor to Mr. Arturo Blancas Espejo, Vice President of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico, to introduce the report.

Thank you, Madam Chair, distinguished delegates, dear colleagues. It is with pleasure that I introduce the report of the Friends of the Chair Group on Social and Demographic Statistics. In its final year of mandate and recognizing the central role that population and social statistics play in understanding society dynamics, informing policy, and supporting global monitoring frameworks, the friend of the chair, Group on Social and Demographic Statistics, had developed a set of strategic recommendations aimed at enhancing coherence, comparability, and integration across these domains. The main recommendation of the group is the development of a central framework for a system of population and social statistics to provide a unified, comprehensive structure that addresses longstanding fragmentation in concepts, data sources, and statistical approaches, and to support harmonization across demographic and social domains. Such a framework is intended to improve the understanding of society dynamics and address the persistent fragmentation of data and statistical approaches. As a first step, the group has prepared a proof of concept document presented as a background. Given the scope, complexity, and multi-year nature of this task, the group stressed the need for a successor mechanism to advance the development and implementation of the central framework. This work will require the commitment of countries and international organizations and provide human and financial resources at the global, regional, and national levels. The Commission is invited to endorse the recommendation presented in the report, including the establishment of a committee Expert on Population and Social Statistics; to welcome the incremental and phased approach proposed by the Committee, with an initial focus on developing the central framework for a system of population and social statistics; to invite Member States to express their interest in joining the Committee; and to call on donors and the international community to to support its work with the necessary financial and human resources. Number 4, to request statistical working groups on demographic and social statistics to strengthen coordination and collaborate with the proposed committee, which also work closely with other relevant stakeholders. And finally, to dissolve the Friends of the Chair Group on Social and Demographic Statistics. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Mexico, and I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Lithuania.

Thank you, Madam Chair, distinguished guests, the co-chair of the Friends of the Chair Group on Social Demographic Statistics and representative of Lithuania, I would like to express my gratitude and congratulate everyone on the progress of the Friends of the Chair Group was made and the result achieved. On the FEOC Group discussion and collaborative efforts over the past 3 years have led to significant advancement in strengthening social and demographic statistics. The provided prepared documents include an analysis of current situation population, identifies challenges and opportunities, and provides strategic recommendations aimed at improving social and demographic statistics to better reflect our societies and their complex relationship with the environment and the economy. One of the central recommendations is the development of central framework for social— for our system of population and social statistics. This framework aims to provide a cohesive structure that will facilitate integration and harmonization across various domains of social and demographic statistics. It's important to continue the development and implementation of central framework for system of population and social statistics for the establishment of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Population and Social Statistics. I would like to gratitude and thank all members of the Friends of the Chair group for their active participation. A special thanks go to the team from INEGI Mexico, Statistics Canada, Statistics Netherlands, Statistics Uruguay, Statistics Poland, the UK Office of National Statistics, and many other national statistical offices. Appreciate the contribution of international organizations, OECD, ILO, Klak, along with many other supporters from various countries. I would like also to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the NSD team and the Secretariat for their unwavering support and encouragement through the 3 years of work. From Lithuanian perspective, we emphasize the importance of continuing the work. We support the successor mechanism and express our interest in in becoming a member of the Committee of Experts on Population and Social Statistics. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Lithuania. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of the Russian Federation.

Thank you, Chair. We'd like to thank the group of friends of the Chair on Social and Demographic Statistics for the huge amount of work done and the proposed areas of development, particularly to identify and address gaps in the methodology. We'd note in particular the area of work on integration sources of data, including using innovative methods for data collection. The creation of the single framework on the base of the central, central fundamental principles will allow to strengthen the capacity of demographic and social statistics in different different countries. We hope that the Committee of Experts on Demographic and Social Statistics, as the successor mechanism to this, will be able to work— continue the work in this area. On our side, I'd like to express our readiness to join and make a contribution to the work of the Committee Inter Alia on integration of geospatial information into social statistics. In our view, this is an important aspect of how the modern social demographic statistics can develop. In our country, in Russia, current task is to expand the application of geoinformation systems in the statistics, and it's one of our strategic areas of work. We already have the experience of creating and implementing a national system of spatial data. The operator of this is the Cadastral Service, and the statistics section is a partner for the users of the system. When building this system, we used best practices and effective technologies, including the comprehensive system of geospatial information.

Thank you. I thank the distinguished delegation of the Russian Federation. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Peru.

Distinguished Chair, colleagues, we really appreciate the work carried out by the Commission and the Group of Friends. Social and demographic statistics, when we modernize their sources and methodologies through the integration of administrative registers and geospatial data, are important, and we agree with the strategic recommendations and the central integrated framework. We must strengthen demographic statistics looking towards 2030 by carrying out national, um, censuses and different ongoing surveys carried out by countries, and this in order to produce socio-demographic indicators on different verticals with a high level of disaggregation. We must make headway in line with technical innovation in statistics, digital collection, and the use of platforms for their processing and geospatial visualization. We support the disaggregation and the approach to gender indicators, indicators on ethnical— ethnic origin, and these aligned with the SDGs. We agree on working on demographic statistics based on surveys, administrative surveys on health and social protection. We must also work to boost public trust through transparency and accessible dissemination of data and strengthening analysis capacities for prospective collection of social and demographic statistics and data. Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Peru. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of the Republic of Korea.

Thank you, Chair. Uh, Republic of Korea commends the achievements of the friends of the chair group in advancing research and on a conceptual framework for social and demographic statistics to better understand complex social changes. Korea has developed various types of statistical registers, and we are using them to produce a wide range of social statistics. Most notably, our ministry firstly published the Demographic Panel Statistics last year to examine the dynamics between policy measures and socioeconomics between determinants influencing people's marriage and fertility decision. We have produced these statistics by linking multi-source data including statistics registers and population cohort database. Korea expects the newly created Committee of Experts on Population and Social Statistics to continue and build upon the achievements of the friends of the chair group. We would like to contribute to the committee's activities by sharing its insights and experience. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of the Republic of Korea. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Malta.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

At the outset, allow me to congratulate you for your appointment as chair of this session and the other colleagues who were elected as members of the Commission and this Bureau. Malta acknowledges the importance of recognizing sources statistics and demographic statistics as a core pillar of development planning backed by the predictable funding.

We further acknowledge the persistence and persistent emerging challenges and opportunities highlighted in this report, particularly fiscal constraints, the current conceptual gaps, and the phenomenon of decreasing response rates in surveys linked to respondent fatigue. While we acknowledge the opportunities offered by technological innovations— and the integration of non-traditional data sources, we would like to stress that these challenges cannot be met by NSIs alone. And more than ever before, we require the support of our partners to provide access to high-quality data for statistical purposes, and the commitment of policymakers to allocate the necessary resources.

It is therefore essential that these needs are discussed not only in this Forum, among statistical—

but also with other partners and policymakers who must support us in addressing these challenges and enable us to take these new opportunities. Furthermore, we support the proposal for developing a central framework which would offer a standardized language for social and demographic data. However, this should not come at the cost of compromising important national-level statistics in the pursuit of international comparability. Undoubtedly, this initiative would create new demands for statistics. It is critical that these demands do not translate into an increased survey burden since response burden is already excessive. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegation of Malta. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Thank you, Madam Chair, distinguished participants. I'll make this presentation, uh, on behalf of the Africa Group. The Africa Group takes note of the Secretary-General's report of the Friends of the Chair Group on Social and Demographic Statistics and applauds the work of the group in 2025, particularly the advancement of a central framework for a system of population and social statistics to reduce fragmentation, improve coherency, and strengthen integration across the social and demographic domains. We welcome the recognition of the population data system as a core component, the building blocks, and the emphasis on universality, cultural neutrality, and inclusiveness, especially for the Global South. However, we stress that the framework must remain flexible, modular, and implementable, reflecting the diverse capacities of African national statistical systems, emphasizing the need for robust data governance, legal and ethical safeguards, and coherence to UN fundamental principles of official statistics. We noted the challenges and opportunities highlighted in the report for advancing social and demographic statistics, including the absence of a overarching conceptual framework, funding shortages, and capacity constraints faced by national statistical offices, and the need for modeling social phenomena that are multidimensional and context-specific. We also underline that successful implementation of the framework will require substantial and predictable financial resources, targeted technical assistance and capacity building in data integration, geospatial analysis and use of data, administrative data, innovative methods, technology transfer, and digital infrastructure to support, particularly for the least developed countries and the fragile context. The Africa Group fully endorses the 3 recommendations contained in the report: elevating the role of social and demographic statistics, strengthening coordination at the global and regional levels, including through South-South cooperation and peer learning, and advancing towards a more integrated and coherent statistical system. Most importantly, we urge African national statistical offices to prioritize on the harmonization of definitions, classifications, metadata standards, and methodologies across all data data sources. Our members will continue efforts to reduce fragmentation, promote interoperability, enable seamless linking of datasets across thematic areas and geographical levels, and address critical measurement gaps. Finally, we endorse the recommendation presented in the report, including the establishment of a committee of experts on population and social statistics, as a successor mechanism to ensure continuity, coordination, and strong technical leadership. The committee should ensure balanced geographical representation, transparent working methods, and close collaboration within African regional statistical bodies, while aligning with the existing global frameworks to avoid duplication. We also supported the Commission's call to donors and the international community to provide adequate financial and human resources to support the development of the central framework and to strengthen coordination among statistical groups working in this area. I thank you, Chair.

I thank the distinguished delegation of the United Republic of Tanzania. I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation of China.

Thank you, Chair. We thank and appreciate the Group of Friends of the Chair for their work carried out during the intersessional period. We take note of the relevant recommendations in the report on strengthening the integration of social and demographic statistics systems and enhancing data harmonization and comparability. The National Bureau of Statistics of China endorses the establishment of and is willing to join the Committee of Experts on Demographic and Social Statistics. We're willing to contribute our experience to this work. We'll focus on promoting the development of central framework, actively participate in international methodological discussions, exchange of experience, and steadily promote capacity building of social statistics in light of our own social statistics practice. Social statistics is important field reflecting the living conditions of population achievement of social development. Our Bureau of Statistics attaches great importance to strengthening institutional framework for social statistics surveys and continuously improve our methodology systems and data reduction mechanisms. In recent years, we established every 5 years a time-use survey, and every year we also carried out surveys on a small sample basis. So to investigate and survey on the well-being and quality of life of our residents during this time. This is all for now.

Thank you. I thank the distinguished delegation of China. Distinguished delegates, we have heard the last statement this morning on Agenda Item 3B. We will continue our debate on this agenda item this afternoon. The Commission has thus concluded this phase of its review of agenda item 3B. The Commission will meet again this afternoon at 3 PM here in this room. The meeting is adjourned.