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Learning objectives
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Summary
The actors who are responsible for producing migration data and ensuring data quality may not be clearly defined, national statistical offices (NSO) may not have access to administrative data and private corporations may be unwilling to share data with public sector organizations. Some of these issues may be resolved through the elaboration of a national law on official statistics and the establishment of a national statistical system (NSS) and inter-ministerial working group. A national law on official statistics gives the statistical compiler, usually the NSO, a clear mandate to collect and disseminate migration data and regulates the relationships between members of the NSS. Such a law also sets common definitions, standards and methods for ensuring data quality. The legislative framework governing migration data can also take on two additional roles: the first is promoting the use and reuse of data and the second is reinforcing cybersecurity and the protection of personal data. Regional inter-governmental organizations, such as regional economic communities, play a key role in encouraging the production and dissemination of migration data and statistics. For example, these organizations have conducted analyses of national data collection systems to identify solutions for data harmonization, developed guidelines for reporting migration statistics, organized regional workshops and trainings, created regional data-sharing platforms and established technical working groups.