MNS:- Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India jointly with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), organises the 4th OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policy under the theme “Measuring Well-Being for Development and Policy Making”. The inaugural session of the four-day conference (16-19 October 2012) will be addressed by the Minister of State (I/C) for Statistics & Programme Implementation Shri Srikant Kumar Jena and the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia. On behalf of the OECD, its Secretary-General Shri Angel Gurria will deliver the opening address.
Building on the Better Life Initiative, the main objectives of the Forum are to further the discussions on the different aspects that make for a good life today and in the future in different countries of the world, and to promote the development and use of new measures of well-being for effective and accountable policy making. Thus, an important expected outcome of the Forum is to contribute to the post-2015 development agenda.
The four-day Forum will gather around 900-1000 participants from all over the world, including policy-makers as well as representatives from international organisations, national statistical offices, government agencies, academia and civil society. It will include a combination of keynote addresses, round tables and themed sessions on material conditions; quality of life; gender, minorities & life course perspectives; and sustainability. Each themed session will be organised around parallel sub-themed sessions involving speakers from different horizons.
According to the programme, former President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will deliver the closing address during the valedictory function on 19th October, 2012. The other key speakers and the panellists during the conference include among others, Vice President, Costa Rica Shri Luis Liberman, Rural Development Minister, Government of India Shri Jairam Ramesh, Members Planning Commission, Government of India Shri Abhijit Sen, Shri Arun Maira and Ms. Syeda Hameed, Principal Adviser, Planning Commission, Government of India Shri Pronab Sen, Nobel laureate and economist of Columbia University Shri Joseph E. Stiglitz, former Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Shri R.K. Pachauri and Chief Statistician and Director of Statistics, OECD Shri Martine Durand. The video message of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Shri David Cameron will be played during the session the importance of measuring wellbeing for effective policy making and development on the inaugural day.
The Forum agenda has been designed to reflect the conclusions of four regional conferences on Measuring Well-Being and Fostering the Progress of Societies that the OECD has organised in association with the OECD Development Centre, PARIS21 and regional actors. These events, for Latin-America (held in Mexico City), for Asia-Pacific (held in Tokyo), for Africa (held in Rabat) and for Europe (held in Paris) took place in May 2011, December 2011, April 2012 and June 2012 respectively.
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