Dr Khalifa Al Barwani, the CEO of the (NCSI), attended the 18th ordinary session of the Governing Body of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), which was held at Montreal, Canada, from 5-6 December 2016.

The session approved the report of the previous session, and reviewed the report on the 16th session of the Policy and Planning Committee. The director's report on the activities of the Institute for the current year was also presented at the session. The conference also discussed the SDG 4 – Education 2030 Agenda, and its implications for UIS work.  

Further, the UIS Governing Board examined the draft programme and budget for the year 2017, and presented a proposal outlining UIS's Medium Term Strategy. Discussions were also held by the UIS Global Donor Group and Technical Advisory Group. Four new members were elected to the Policy and Planning Committee at the session, which also announced the date, place and provisional agenda of the 19th Ordinary Session of the Governing Board.

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the official and trusted source of internationally-comparable data on education, science, culture and communication. As the official statistical agency of UNESCO, the UIS produces a wide range of indicators in UNESCO's fields of action by working with national statistical offices, line ministries and other statistical organizations. The UIS Director serves as the Organization's chief statistician.

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