The National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) recently released the sixth issue of the National Indicators Handbook of Social Services.

   The handbook includes the metadata of the national indicators related to social services in the Sultanate, such as social security, relief aid, numbers of people with disabilities, marriage and divorce documents, and Omani women's association.

     The issue also includes descriptive indicators of safety and security, such as traffic accidents, fire and ambulance cases, as well as indicators related to passports, Omani identity cards and residency visas.

     The first section of the sixth issue focuses on general concepts, while the second section focuses on the metadata of national indicators, including the indicator’s name, its definition, the unit of measurement, the time period for updating the index values and the set of variables or elements that are used to divide the indicator when needed for more details about its data, in addition to the geographical coverage and the source of primary data.

   The issue also points out to the national reference authorities for this sector’s indicators, such as the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, and the Royal Oman Police, with the websites of these entities used to obtain the related general concepts of the indicators.

     The issue aims to clarify any ambiguity or inconsistency while using data and indicators that may result from lack of data clarity, as avoiding ambiguity leads to more confidence in the data and the indicators issued by NCSI.

     This issue is also considered as part of NCSI endeavors to ensure the quality of statistical activities in the Sultanate, as it has been prepared with the aim of enhancing the efficiency of utilizing these data and indicators and facilitating its circulation as well.ONA