Switzerland supports Statistical Institute of Albania (INSTAT)

TIRANA, April 22 – Switzerland and the Albanian Institute of Statistics have signed an agreement supporting INSTAT as it develops demographic and social statistics in Albania for producing timely, relevant, qualitative and reliable data. The project expands on fields which have not yet been subject to major reforms. The demographic and social indicators are to serve as a prerequisite to any decision pertaining to Albania’s development issues. Switzerland is funding this project with an estimated 1,250,000 Euro over a three year period. The project will bring an improvement to the performance and sustainability of the Albanian statistical system. The project features four interlinked components: (i) Improvement of regular statistics in the fields of demography, education and health. (ii) Development of the Geographical Information System (GIS) which will update and enlarge the GIS system through the digitalisation of the Albanian territory for statistical purposes. (iii) Monitoring of indicators and statistical analysis with particular emphasis on gender sensitive topics and (iv) Improvement of the management and cooperation capacity of INSTAT. It is expected that the project will not only improve the quality of the statistical processes and the statistical output but increase INSTAT’s capacity to manage complex and multidimensional cooperation projects in a self-reliant manner. (Tirana Times Staff)