Ramallah 22/2/2018 - Prime Minister 's Office : The Prime Minister Dr. Rami Al-Hamadallah , attended the twentieth meeting of the Advisory Council for Official Statistics which took place at the headquarters of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in Ramallah, reviewed the efforts to promote and develop the Palestinian official statistical figure , most importantly the localization and implementation of sustainable development indicators 2030, and the National Strategy for Official Statistics 2018-2022 which is being prepared to be submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval while noting that the NSDS constitute an important component in the establishment of a comprehensive national statistical system and sustainability.
 
H.E said: " The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics  has made  numerous achievements for our people and case, PCBS showed  high flexibility dynamics to keep pace with the conditions and variables to overcome imposed obstacles by the Israeli occupation. A remarkable achievement has been the implementation of the third general census of population, housing and establishments, in which the results will be announced next month. H.E congratulated the Lebanese and the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, and the Lebanese Palestinian dialogue Committee and the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Lebanon for their achievement to implement the first general census of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. this emphasizes the fact that the Palestinian refugees, and although decades have passed  were and will remain part of our society. This census, is a key reference for the number and characteristics of our refugees in Lebanon, and will benefit both governments the Palestinian and Lebanese.

PCBS has also and through its presidency of the International Association for Official Statistics (IAOS), and through hosting the ninth HLG meeting consolidated Palestine's outstanding presence on the global statistical map .
 
The prime minister: " I assure you of the follow - up of H.E President Mahmoud Abbas , for PCBS' great efforts to keep abreast of developments in the field of quality of statistical data, and the status of Palestine to stay in an advanced and competitive position in the international statistical map, and to strengthen its presence and membership in relevant international organizations and bodies, which shows the extent of progress and maturity made by our state institutions in spite of all obstacles, restrictions and practices of the occupation. "
 
AlHamdallah added: "We meet every year, and our national cause is filled with challenges, and at a time where our leadership is accelerating its efforts, led by His Excellency the President to save the two - state solution and put the international community in front of a historic opportunity to reach a fair and balanced political process to end the Israeli occupation and protect our national rights,  international custody  . President Abbas's initiative, which he launched two days ago at the Security Council, is considered as a call to the world to contribute in stabilizing Peace, confronting Israeli settlements via reverting to the International and UN resolutions, as we shall not accept single patronage anymore".   
 
Prime Minister went on: "I extend my gratitude and appreciation to the President of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, and all its staff, and Consultation Council and the Palestinian Statistical Family, for their distinct hard work in elevating, developing and empowering official statistics. I also assure you of the Government's confidence and reliance on the significant statistics, censuses and qualitative surveys you conduct, in their intervention and strategic work and prospect planning. On behalf of the Palestinian Government and members of this council, we shall recommend to HE, President Abbas, to honor PCBS with Palestine's Statistical Medal, in appreciation for the grand efforts exerted especially in conducting the Census in Palestine, using the most developed information technologies and GIS, in addition to the Census of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon, achieving the EFQM, among many other achievements."

Al hamdallah, closed his speech noting: "I wish for this council all the success, totally trusting that it shall come out with productive decisions to generally enrich and develop the statistical sector, and more international partnerships, cooperation and exchange of expertise".   
 
On her part, Ms. Ola Awad, President of the PCBS, greeted on behalf of the council members HE, the Prime Mininster Al Hamdallah, for his eagerness and interest in attending the council's meetings, and she expressed her gratitude and appreciation for the Palestinian government share in support for the census's budget, in addition to covering the project's budget deficit.

Ms. Awad also presented the most important achievements since the last meeting, noting that 2017 was an exceptional year, where the third Population, Housing and Establishment Census was conducted in the Palestinian state, as the efforts concentrated on conducting all the stages of this project, starting from the Updating Maps stage, and closing with the Population census, noting that PCBS is currently preparing for the Preliminary results release; which will take place in an official celebration under the Patronage and presence of HE President Abbas, and PM Al Hamdallah, during March. On this occasion, Ms, Awad extended her gratitude and appreciation to Palestinian Leadership represented by President Abbas, and HE Al Hamdallah, the Palestinian ministries and governmental and private sector institutions, the central Elections Committee, the media at all aspects, the local government, the universities, the governors, the Security forces, and all the Palestinian people, for their cooperation and supporting the census into a real national success, also acknowledged the unknown soldiers, the children of PCBS family, and the National team of the Census, for all the efforts exerted  in concluding this project.