undata wins 2010 UN21 Award for Improvements in Client Services

In a ceremony held on 29 July 2010, the United Nations Statistics Division was awarded the 2010 UN21 Award in the category "Improvements in Client Services". This is the third time since 2004 that a UN21 Award is awarded to the Statistics Division.

In presenting the awards, the Secretary-General emphasized the inspiring example that the recipients had given: "The finalists here today dared to challenge the status quo and to change accepted ways of doing things. You broke out of old habits, you realized what could be achieved. By yourselves or as a team, you did whatever it took to turn your vision into reality. Today we celebrate not just the winners, but the can-do spirit of all the nominees."

The UN21 Awards were established in 1996 to recognize outstanding initiatives by individual staff members or teams to improve the delivery of the Organization’s programmes and services. The Awards serve to highlight innovations across the Organization which have a multiplier effect and ensure sustainable results.

The "Improvements in Client Services" award category honours an individual or team who significantly changed how they do business in ways that positively affect client services, including better services to Member States, UN departments, offices or UN system entities. The criteria for this category take into account the value and efficiency of the provided services, a consistently high quality of service to all clients, anticipated client needs and potential problems before they arose, and the creation of new and/or innovative methods for client servicing.

UNSD greatly appreciates congratulatory messages received from the following member states (and observer) on this "commendable" achievement:

Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Brazil, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Republic of, Lithuania, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Samoa, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, Suriname, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand and Turkey.