As of today, March 8, 2016, and up to March 2018, the President of the IBGE, Wasmália Bivar, assumes the chairmanship of the Statistical Commission of the United Nations – UN, representing Brazil. The announcement was made early in the afternoon at the UN headquarters in New York. Mrs. Bivar will be the first Latin woman to hold such position.

Headed by the IBGE, the Commission will lead the major statistical discussions at the United Nations over the next two years, involving strategic subjects like Population Censuses and National Accounts Systems, as well as emerging issues like statistics on human rights, environmental statistics and the Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs.

Created more than 50 years ago, the UN Statistical Commission is chaired by Brazil for the first time. The 24 member states, regionally represented, elect the chair every two years. The election of Brazil was announced today, March 8, 2016, during the 47th Session of the Statistical Commission, at the presence of the President of the IBGE, Wasmália Bivar, and of the Director of Surveys, Roberto Olinto. As elected chair, Mrs. Bivar will lead the 47th Session.

The Statistical Commission assists the United Nations Economic and Social Council in promoting the development of national statistics and improving their comparability, among other goals. The Commission also coordinates the statistical work of specialized agencies and advises UN bodies on general matters related to data collection, analysis and dissemination of statistical information.

Therefore, the IBGE will take a privileged position in the discussions to be delivered by the United Nations in a wide range of subjects: Big Data, the next Population Censuses to be carried out by member states, efforts to maintain and improve the National Accounts Systems and to build the System of Environmental Statistics and the Environmental Accounts, among others.

Moreover, the Statistical Commission is coordinating the selection of the Sustainable Development Goals indicators. These 17 goals, which unfold into tens of targets, involve subjects like elimination of extreme poverty, access to quality education, reduction of violence, promotion of gender equality, protection of land and maritime ecosystems, reduction of global warmth, establishing of sustainable consumption patterns, generation of decent jobs and the improved access to basic sanitation and to renewable energy sources, which will guide the UN agenda up to 2030.

The IBGE takes on this important task at the exact moment when it completes 80 years of existence. The election to chair the UN Statistical Commission recognizes the international prestige of Brazil in the production of official public statistics.

Social Communication
8 March 2016