The Higher Population Council, in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), held yesterday, Tuesday, the first coordination meeting for 2026 of the members of the Technical Committee on Administrative Records Data related to demographic status and movement and reproductive health. The meeting was attended by members of the committee established for this purpose, representing the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship; the Department of Statistics; the Department of the Chief Justice; the Civil Status and Passports Department; and the Residence and Borders Department and the Refugees Directorate at the Public Security Directorate/Ministry of Interior.
The meeting aimed to follow up on national efforts to improve the quality and completeness of administrative records data, based on the recommendations of previous consultative meetings; discuss the publication of administrative data for 2025 in accordance with internationally adopted methodologies and standards; and strengthen coordination among the participating entities to reduce discrepancies in the data issued by each entity.
The Secretary-General of the Higher Population Council, Professor Dr. Issa Al-Masarweh, emphasized that the meeting comes within the Council’s mandate as a reference entity for information related to demographic status and movement, vital statistics, and reproductive health. He noted that administrative records represent a key source of such information. He added that Jordan holds an advanced position internationally in terms of data availability and quality, and that efforts are currently underway to further disaggregate demographic, marital, and health data and classify them by age, sex, nationality, marital status, governorate, and disability status, in order for knowledge products to be based on comprehensive information that supports informed national decision-making at all levels.
During the meeting, members of the Technical Committee reviewed the achievements made by their respective institutions since the previous meetings, in response to the recommendations issued during those meetings. They confirmed that work is currently ongoing to implement the remaining proposals, ahead of the release of the 2025 annual statistical reports, in accordance with the principles and international standards governing official statistics.
The meeting is part of a series of meetings conducted by the Higher Population Council in cooperation with national partners, with the aim of strengthening integration and coordination among entities responsible for relevant administrative records, increasing the use of administrative records in developing national indicators and statistics, and monitoring progress in the implementation of relevant strategies and programmes.
