Ms. Irena Križman, Director-General of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia


Irena Križman, M.Sc., was born in 1951 in Sevnica, Slovenia. In 1975 she graduated from sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences; in 2002 she earned her master's degree in the management of non-profit organizations with her master's thesis entitled The Role of Users of Data in Total Quality Management in National Statistics.

She has been employed by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia since 1974. During this time she held numerous management positions ever since she was 29 years old. From 1 January 1987 on she was Deputy Director-General. On 1 June 2003 the Government of the Republic of Slovenia appointed her Acting Director-General of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia and on 20 November 2003 Director-General for a period of five years. Three months prior to expiry of her term of office, the Prime Minister reappointed her as Director-General of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia for a five-year period.

Her professional work involves activities within working groups in the field of national statistics and active international cooperation. In July 2003 she was elected one of the Vice-Chairs of the Bureau of the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) for the first time, and was re-elected for a further term in July 2005. In June 2009 she was elected member of the Bureau for the 2009-2011 period and in June 2011 re-elected for the 2011-2013 period. Ms. Križman is also a member of the panel of experts producing the Human Development Report.

Within the European Statistical System, Ms. Križman cooperates in the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) at the European Commission, where she represents Slovenian national statistics. She is a member of the High-Level Group on Quality and in November 2010 as a representative of the ESSC she was appointed member of the European Statistical Advisory Committee and World Bank Advisory Council on Gender and Development.

Ms. Križman is actively involved in the work of the International Statistical Institute (ISI) and the International Association of Official Statisticians (IAOS) - in August 2007 she was elected President Elect of the IAOS Executive Committee for the 2009-2011 period.

Under her leadership, the Statistical Office has successfully participated in national projects of joining the European Union and the European Monetary Union, in presiding over the Council Working Party on Statistics and in Slovenia joining the OECD.

Led by Ms. Križman as Director-General, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia successfully fulfils its mission, which is to provide high-quality, relevant and timely data to all users in the national and international environment. The work and achievements of the Statistical Office are presented in documents – i.e. the medium-term and annual programmes – and reports that are discussed by the professional public in 25 Statistical Advisory Committees and in the Statistical Council of the Republic of Slovenia, which is the highest advisory body in the framework of the Slovene national statistics.

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