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Financed by: EU Time Interval: September 2009-September 2010
 The context of this project is related to the fact that INSTAT is entering into an important and delicate phase of its institutional duties, with direct consequences on the credibility and EU compliance of the Albanian National Statistical system. The planned organization of the population and housing census in 2011, the agriculture census and the economic non-agriculture enterprises census, are going to be very important activities, having direct impact not only on INSTAT itself, but on the developing national statistical system and on the country as a whole. For the country as a whole, implementing a census allows the country to provide to its government and to international organizations a correct picture of itself, including a wealth of quality data for evidence based decision-making and for international comparison.
The project provides technical assistance to INSTAT and regional offices so that the following objectives will be achieved:
 • Reinforcement of the regional network of INSTAT offices: Assisting INSTAT with the reinforcement of Regional Offices to support the decentralization of some target statistical activities, by improving capacities and skills in the INSTAT regional offices and putting in place a ICT system monitored centrally from INSTAT HQ and in line with European standards and best practices in use in other European countries.
• Improved capacity of INSTAT to carry out forthcoming censuses (agriculture and population): This aims at supporting INSTAT to set up adequate management structure at INSTAT, planning activities, and to develop specific competencies and skills for the preparation of the agriculture census and population and housing census in Albania.
 • De-concentration of a core of statistical data collection and survey responsibilities: Support INSTAT with the decentralization of some target activities towards regional Offices, in order to support the Institute to produce and disseminate regional statistics in line with best practices in use in other European countries.
Benefits from the project are direct and indirect, to the INSTAT and its regional offices and to the whole national statistical system in terms of:
• Allowing the country to provide to its government and to international organizations a correct picture of itself, including a wealth of quality data for evidence based decision-making and for international comparison.
• Increasing the sustainable capacities, in terms of data collection and processing, and – especially – analysis
• Enabling INSTAT to produce sustainable and reliable regional data on the basis of NUTS regulations and international standards.
This project implementation provides the necessary support of the decentralization process at INSTAT through the improvement of capacities in its Regional Offices. A crucial part of the project is focused on de-concentrating INSTAT HQ from the burden to be responsible centrally of the statistical data collection, and to make possible for INSTAT to produce sustainable and reliable regional data on the basis of international standards.
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