Demographic and Social Statistics

Opening remarks by

• Ms. Margarita Guerrero Director, Statistics Division, UNESCAP
• Ms. Keiko Osaki-Tomita, Chief, Demographic and Social Statistics Branch, Statistics Division, UNDESA

• Presentation by the UNDESA, logistics and introduction of participants

The session reviews global, regional and national policy initiatives related to international migration, discusses their implications for data collection and identifies challenges related to the collection and use of migration-related data

• The Sustainable Development Goals and the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants: implication for migration data - Ms. Keiko Osaki Tomita, UNDESA
• The migration policy and statistics nexus - Mr. Yanhong Zhang, ESCAP
• Country presentations:
  • Bangladesh (Ms. Kamrunnahar, policy needs for data on international migration)
  • Philippines (Ms. Castillo, migration data required from policy makers, whether statistics are available; how information collected from various ministries and coordination mechanisms)
• Key questions for country presentations:
• What are the migration-relevant policy issues in your country?
• What data are needed to address the policy issues? Are data available?
• What are the data gaps? What are the challenges in collecting those data?
• Comments and discussion

The session provides information on internationally agreed concpets and definitions related to international migration, as well as on the variety of sources which can be used to generate data on international migration, their strengths and limitations

• Key concepts and main sources of migration data - Ms. Haoyi Chen, UNDESA
• Country presentations:
  • Indonesia (Mr. Windiarto, sources of international migration statistics in the country; how sources work together; strength & limitations)
  • Nepal (Mr. Poudyal, sources of international migration statistics; how different sources coordinate with each other; evalution of existing data in response to policy needs)
  • Sri Lanka (Mr. Saddhananda, different sources of international migration statistics: population census (on emigration); border surveys; administrative sources on labour migration; quality assessment of each; how sources work together)
• Key questions for country presentations:
• How are international migrants defined in your country? Statistical definition? Administrative definition? Does the definition vary across data sources?
• What major sources of migration statistics are available in your country?
• Is there a coordination mechanism to combine different sources of migration data?
• What are the challenges in integrating multiple data sources? Any activities/plan in promoting integrating of multiple sources?
• Comments and discussion

The session provides an opportunity for participants to make use of the concepts and knowledge provided in the previous session.

• Group exercise (30 minutes)
  Exercises on identifying an international migrant. The difference between "international migrant" and proxy measures such as "foreign-born" or "foreigners" (to be developed)
• Reporting back to the group (30 minutes)
• Wrap-up (15 minutes)

The session provides participants with an overview of the uses of population censuses to measure immigration, and the characteristics of migrants, based on examples from national censuses

• The 2020 round of population censuses: United Nations recommendations and their implementations - Ms. Haoyi Chen, UNDESA
• Using census data to assess global migration trends and to inform migration related goals and targets - Ms. Keiko Osaki-Tomita, UNDESA
• Country presentations:
  • Nepal (Mr. Karki, experience of census in collecting data on emigrants: questionnaire design; quality assessment; data dissemination; plan for the next round)
• Key questions for country presentations:
• What are the policy relevant data requirement on immigrants in your country?
• How adequate are existing census methodologies in gathering information on such information?
• To what extent is your country implementing the United Nations recommendations on censuses?
• What steps can be taken to improve data-gathering on immigration through censuses?
• What migration data are currently produced by your country? Could more be done? What are the challenges?
• Important migration data for your country that could be gathered through censuses?
• Comments and discussion

The session provides participants with an overview of the uses of population censuses to measure emigration and remittances, based on examples from national censuses

• Examples of data-gathering on emigration in the 2010 round of population censuses - Ms. Haoyi Chen, UNDESA
• Country presentations:
  • Bangladesh (Mr. Howlader, experience of census in collecting data on emigrants and returned migrants: questionnaire design; quality assessment; data dissemination; plan for the next round)
• Key questions for country presentations:
• What information is required to measure emigration? Is this information on emigration available?
• What opportunities are available to use censuses to gather information on emigration?
• To what extent is your country able to make use of these opportunities?
• What steps can be taken to improve data-gathering on emigration through censuses?
• What are the most important indicators that would be useful for your country that could be gathered through censuses?
• Comments and discussion
• Group exercises: Review your own latest census questionnaire and identify potential improvements

The session identifies good practices in compiling, analysing and disseminating data from administrative sources that is relevant for international migration, especially with regards to labour migration; addresses the strengths and weaknesses of using administrative sources for migration data; and provides guidance for compiling, analysing and disseminating data generated from administrative sources.

• Administrative data sources to measure migration: An introduction - Ms. Haoyi Chen, UNDESA
• Practical example of using registration data to produce statistics on refugees and asylum seekers - Mr. Toshio Naito, UNHCR
• Country presentations:
  • Philippines (Ms. Tingga, Overseas worker: how data are collected/compiled; data quality assessment; lessons learnt)
  • Sri Lanka (Mr. Hemantha, collecting and analysing data on international migration, quality assessment)
  • Thailand (Ms. Sritubtim, how labour demand and supply data are collected? How does migrants figure in those numbers? How labour permit information is collected/used for statistics purposes? What about other types of administrative sources?)
• Key questions for country presentations:
• What type of administrative system is relevant to migration in your country?
• What migration data are generated from administrative sources?
• Is there sharing of information among different institutions, including national statistical office and various administrative agencies in the country?
• How could sharing of information be facilitated?
• Comments and discussion

The session discusses experiences and identify good practices in using household and border surveys to assess the status and identify the needs of migrant families, to elucidate migratory patterns and flows, and to maximize the contribution of migration to national development. This section also addresses opportunities and challenges of using existing household surveys for the purpose of migration as well as designing and implementing specialized migration surveys.

• How to collect migration statistics through surveys - Ms. Tanja Brondsted Sejersen, UNESCAP
• Country presentations:
  • India (Mr. Yakav, household surveys in collecting international migration data - lessons learnt, future plans)
  • Pakistan (Mr. Bukhari, labour force surveys in collecting international migration data - lessons learnt, future plans)
  • Thailand (Ms. Laosutaen, labour force and migration survey, or other types of surveys collecting data on international migration - lessons learnt and future plans)
• Key questions for country presentations:
• How have surveys been used in your country to international migration data?
• Are data publically available?
• What successes/challenges have been faced in using surveys?
• What are the currently running surveys in the country? Frequency and sample size of those surveys? Are basic migration questions included in those surveys? Any plans in attaching a migration module or add a few migration questions to any survey in the near future?
• How can there be greater systematization in use of surveys?
• Comments and discussion

The session develops migration-related indicators and to understand the data needs to formulate evidence-based migration policies

• Identifying and measuring migration-related SDG indicators - Ms. Keiko Osaki-Tomita, UNDESA
• Measuring migration governance through the Migration Governance Index - Ms. Mariko Tomiyama, IOM
• The Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking: developing and implementing regional indicators on victims of trafficking - Mr. Sebastian Boll, UN-ACT
• Comments and discussion

• Are the proposed migration-relevant indicators relevant for your country?
• Are there any further disaggregations that are relevant for your country (sex, disability etc)?
• What are the migration data-related implications of the 2030 Agenda?
• Are data already available for some of the indicators?
• Are there challenges in collecting such data? What are the data gaps?
• Any plan for methodological development?

The session works with participants to understand the necessity of regional cooperation on migration data, especially with regards to migration data from countries of destination

• Exchanging migration data: A critical link to inform policy - Ms. Haoyi Chen, UNDESA
• International Labour Migration Statistics Database in the ASEAN - Mr. Nilim Baruah, ILO
• Regional consultative processes as a means of facilitating data exchange on migration - Mr. Paul Tacon, ESCAP
• Bali Process experiences in data exchange - Mr. Lars Johann Lonnback, Bali Process
• Comments and discussion

• How can countries of origin encourage sharing of data that may be deemed sensitive?
• How can regional cooperation within SAARC/ASEAN on data exchange be promoted?
• What data should be exchanged as a priority?