What is World Statistics Day?
On 20 October, World Statistics Day is observed throughout the world. This occasion was
marked for the first time last year, following a unanimous UN resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 3 June 2010. Mr. Paul Cheung, Director of the UN Statistics Division, initiated World Statistics Day in order to shed light on the many achievements of national and international statistical systems, to raise public awareness and build trust in official statistics, and to promote the work of statisticians throughout the world. These goals are consistent with the observed global trend toward decision-making based on current and reliable information about topics relating to people's lives. These decisions also relate to business affairs as well as to political matters and policy making. World Statistics Day is marked by a variety of events in all of the UN member countries.
How was World Statistics Day Celebrated in Israel?
In the Israeli Knesset:
On 1 November 2011, the Israeli Knesset held a special meeting (Hebrew only), in which the Government Statistician, Prof. Shlomo Yitzhaki, presented the Report on Society (Hebrew only) in Israel to Knesset Speaker Mr. Reuven Rivlin. The Report consolidates current data on the Israeli population and Israeli society, and provides a broad overview of Israeli society from various perspectives.
In the Education System:
Activities on statistics (Hebrew only) for secondary school students have been designed and written up in collaboration with the Society and Youth Administration at the Ministry of Education. The activities relate to the Central Bureau of Statistics, and deal with statistical information as well as with the potential uses of statistical data. They are based on statistics produced by the Central Bureau of Statistics, and aim to familiarize the students with the potential uses of statistical data. The activities have been disseminated to teachers and can be accessed on the website of the Society and Youth Administration.
In the Media:
Special radio programs have been produced and broadcast for World Statistics Day.
"Sixty Seconds" on Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) - This is a short radio program that presented selected data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, which compares Israel with other countries in the world.
"The History Corner" (Hebrew only), on IBA Reshet Bet - This short radio program was dedicated to the late Prof. Roberto Bacchi, who was the first Government Statistician. The program included an interview with Prof. Bacchi, in which he talks about the establishment of the Central Bureau of Statistics.
In Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics:
The Olamas brochure - A new brochure, "Olamas", was published in honor of World Statistics Day. The brochure provides information on World Statistics Day, and presents data that compare the situation in Israel with other countries in the world.
Workers' Day - This year, World Statistics Day was marked by a special day for CBS workers, which featured Prof. Ron Kenett, President of the Israel Statistical Association, as keynote speaker. The workers, who deal with statistics of Israeli society on a daily basis, participated in activities on this topic. In a special ceremony, awards were granted to employees of the CBS for outstanding achievements.
Seminar - A one day seminar (Hebrew only) for users of CBS data was held in collaboration with the Israeli Statistics Association. The seminar was intended for professionals from various disciplines, who use the information provided by the CBS. During the seminar, a variety of work tools appearing on the CBS website were presented, and lectures were delivered by professionals who use the data in their work.
Special newsletter was distributed as of statistics with information on daily statistics and innovations made in recent years, CBS sent Census workers and users of data.
