ISI Statement on Ukraine

The ISI strongly condemns all military aggression, and in particular that currently taking place in Ukraine. It is of global concern. We express our support for the Ukrainian people and all who are victims of these events.

The current actions, as with all military aggression, will seriously impact on statistical science and the work of statisticians, both in the field of academic and official statistics, not only in Ukraine but also in the Russian Federation, and in other neighboring countries. In particular, the actions will cause disruption to the statistical processes that official statistics rely on, leading to a lack of information on Ukrainian society and its economy; with an impact on the quality of statistics, especially on key indicators such as the movement of people and trade.

The ISI and its seven associations have a long tradition of collaborating with statisticians and organizations in Ukraine as well as in the Russian Federation and other countries in the region, where we have a number of members.

Our mission is to lead, support and promote the understanding, development and good practices of statistics worldwide. International co-operation on statistics remains the cornerstone of our mission. We continue our support of the scientific work of Russian and Ukrainian statisticians, including students whose studies have been interrupted by the conflict. However, in the light of these extraordinary circumstances, and while we do not hold our Russian colleagues responsible for the actions of their government, the ISI has decided to refrain from organizing and/or supporting statistical events in Russia. We have also put the activities of the ISI Eurasian Outreach Committee on hold.

We will reconsider our position in the light of changes in the current situation.

The Hague, 5 March 2022

Stephen Penneck
ISI President

Ada van Krimpen
ISI Director

This statement was reviewed and confirmed by the ISI Executive Committee at its meeting on 17 May.  It will be kept under review.  In addition, ISI recognizes that some statisticians in the region may have difficulty paying their membership fees to ISI, because of the lack of international payments.  We have agreed to keep these memberships open, until payment becomes possible.