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Mrs. Nancy Wells is the new Government Statistician (GS) appointed by the Public Service Commission in 1998. She took up this new post in late 1998. The out-going Government Statistician, Mr. Jacob Isaiah, was transferred to head the Civil Status Department. Mrs Wells is an Economics graduate from the Australian National University and worked in the National Accounts section before taking up the post of the GS. She comes from one of the northern islands of Vanuatu called Espiritu Santo.
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As a result of the Comprehensive Reform Program, the VSO underwent a restructuring process without precedent. The number of staff was reduced to 15 from 23 with restrictions to only having permanent staff. Employment of temporary staff has been discouraged but can be allowed during special projects such as the Census. Not only did the restructuring process result in a reduction in staff, but the VSO annual budget has also been reduced by about 20%. The VSO was formerly under the Ministry of the Prime Minister and was physically located near the Prime Minister's Office. The restructure resulted in the VSO now being under the new Ministry of Finance and located within this building. |
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The Statistical Research Officer position within the Secretariat of the Pacific Community Statistics Program is a one year contract. The aim of this position is to strengthen NSO's capacities in the region by providing a training and development opportunity for the successful candidate. Mr Raymond Vuti from the VSO was successful in getting the post and took full advantage of the opportunity to acquire new statistical skills and knowledge, which he will apply once the contract is finished to further improve VSO outputs. This internet web site is part of the SRO initiative. The position is funded by the New Zealand Government.
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The second national Census for Vanuatu post independence in 1980 was conducted in 1999. Unlike the first Census in 1989, where the project was fully externally funded, the 1999 Census was funded solely by the Vanuatu Government. In addition, there was no full time technical assistance used, with almost all of the work managed by VSO staff. Summary results were produced and the main Census report was released in 2000. The VSO is now in the process of producing other Census reports such as "Demographic Analysis" and "Provincial Profiles".
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The VSO, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, is now preparing for Vanuatu's second Census of Agriculture to be conducted in 2003. Both Departments realise that funding for the Agriculture Census will be an issue, and are trying to get donor funding for the project. If external funding cannot be found, how the project will be jointly funded by the two departments will take considerable working out.
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The VSO has again received Technical Assistance (TA) from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for its Institutional Strengthening Project . An amount of 150,000 USD has been approved by the ADB on a grant basis to fund the TA activities which will involve a wide range of statistical activities (Economic and Social Statistics). This project is aimed to continue with activities the previous ADB-funded TA has undertaken (1998-2000) with the aim of building sustainability and capacity in important areas such as national accounts to staff of the VSO. Following the ADB Fact-Finding mission in Vanuatu from 29 August and 13 September 2001, a memorandum of understanding between the Vanuatu Government and the ADB was signed on 29 September 2001. According to the project's time frame, the first activity for the project will commence on January 2002. |
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Funded by the British Government, such scholarships are rare and are awarded on outstanding merits. Ms Wells proved herself competent to be given this opportunity to pursue her career in a much more wider field that she believes would help do her job better as Government Statistician. Ms Wells is amongst the few females in the country occupying such a senior position. This is a one year scholarship and Ms Wells is expected to resume duties again late this year, around October 2003. She is studying in one of the top universities in UK. |
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