National Stakeholder Consultation for the Design of a National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) St. George’s, Grenada April 2012

What is PARIS21? OBJECTIVE: Develop capacity within National Statistical System in order to : improve governance and policy decisions reduce poverty and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) THROUGH: NATONAL STRATEGIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF STATISTICS Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (1999): United Nations World Bank European Commission Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) International Monetary Fund P21 Board is composed of 40 members (½ from developing countries, ½ donor community) 2

PARIS21 : a facilitator PARIS21 facilitates: The co-ordination of all actors within the National Statistical System The mobilisation and leveraging of resources The production of statistical advocacy materials The establishment of country-donor co-ordination mechanisms in statistics Peer reviews focused on strategic planning and National Statistical System governance Technical assistance and production of guidance and documentation on strategic statistical planning, in particular the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS). 3

National strategic approach A National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) is: A nationally-owned, country specific, participatory dynamic process integrated into the development policy process covering the whole National Statistical System (NSS): Aiming at developing statistical capacity to meet the demands for data necessary to inform national development policies, taking into account regional and international commitments Providing a vision for where NSS should be in 5-10 years time Showing where the statistical system is now, how it needs to be developed and how to accomplish this, through a structured and realistic methodology Offering a coherence framework and prioritised action plan not only for capacity development but also for funding decisions Offering a framework for co-ordination arrangements: across NSS and between donors Answering management issues such as : obsolete legislation, lack of human resources, etc. 4

NSDS design methodology 1. POLITICAL COMMITMENT 2. ROADMAP 3. WHERE ARE WE NOW? Current situation 4. WHERE DO WE WANT TO BE? Mission/vision Statistical capacity 6. GETTING THERE Implementation, monitor./eval. 5. HOW DO WE GET THERE? Strategies/Actions 5

NSDS : coordinated efforts and leadership 6

National > NSDS as a country coherence framework Edu. Agri. Health Labour The NSDS is a coordination mechanism for the national statistical system… The NSDS should encompass all data production, analysis and use. It should be system-wide, covering and coordinating all actors in the system NSDS needs to cover the entire National Statistical System for official statistics, including: - Line ministries as well as the NSO - Users (demand side) as well as producers (supply side) - National, sub-national, regional and international needs and programmes 7

National > NSDS as a country coherence framework Edu. Agri. Health Labour NSDS 8

International > NSDS as a country coherence framework ICP DHS MICS Many different national and international initiatives compete for a national statistical system’s resources. An NSDS can provide a country-level coherence framework, a strategic approach to statistical capacity building, within which countries can place all national and international programmes…….. ….such as the International Comparison Programme (ICP), Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). 9

International > NSDS as a country coherence framework ICP DHS MICS These should be carried out as part of the implementation of the NSDS in line with agreed priorities and the NSDS action plan! ICP DHS MICS National Strategy for the Development of Statistics 10

Regional > NSDS as a country coherence framework An NSDS can provide country-level coherence framework, a strategic approach to statistical capacity development, within which countries can place all regional commitments…….. GRENADA IS A VERY INTERESTING AND CHALLENGING CASE It is part of : ECLAC, CARICOM, OECS, ECCB … 11

NSDS / RSDS: complementary processes Regional integration and development RSDS NSDS Country 1 NSDS Country 2 NSDS Country 3 NSDS Country 4 National development Harmonisation process Strengthening the capacity of least developed countries It is important to remember that Grenada will have regional data commitments to respect. For example, as you know, in October 2011, the OECS agreed a regional strategy in which each member state was encouraged to design an NSDS. This work should be co-ordinated with the CARICOM regional programme to ensure that all regional data needs are being met. These concerns will need to be integrated into the Grenadian NSDS. 12

RELIABLE, HARMONISED STATISTICS STATISTICAL CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT Converging needs DECISION-MAKING RELIABLE, HARMONISED STATISTICS STATISTICAL CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT The commitments your decision-makers engage – be they national, regional, or international – will require reliable, harmonised, comparable statistics. These commitments will both require statistical capacity and build statistical capacity. So again, regional and international political commitments should be included in your NSDS. Production of relevant data nationally will allow for the production of both national and regional statistics

Design and implementation issues: outline Two issues Mainstreaming of sectors Costing and funding 14

Mainstreaming the sectors (1) An example on agriculture: only 10% of low-income countries have appropriately mainstreamed the agricultural sector in the strategy design In general sectors producing indicators for MDGs (health, education) have been better covered in the strategies Situation even worse when looking at effective implementation Evaluation not yet fully done however (NSDS process is recent-2005) 15

Mainstreaming the sectors (2) Why such a problem of integration? Legal environment: statistical law and co-ordination structure missing First generation of NSDSs has been NSO-centric: easier to design In some sectors, the statistical function does not exist Lack of policy knowledge by statisticians Lack of human resources and inappropriate funding Influence of donors and international institutions on their sector without interest in co-ordination Sometimes absence of ownership of the process 16

Mainstreaming the sectors (3) Bottom-up approach: example of Uganda Advocacy workshop at Government level Statistical committees for each sector Identification of main statistical products In line with national/ international policies Identification of users Reporting mechanism for each sector Sectoral strategies of 3 years Inter-agency committee on statistics Compilation and design of NSDS NSDS Agriculture Health Education Finances Others 17

Mainstreaming the sectors (4) Top-down approach: majority of countries Over-arching NSDS With Sub-committees on sectors Overall NSDS Sub-strategies for sectors More detailed for sectors if necessary NSDS Agriculture Health Education Finances Others 18

Mainstreaming the sectors (5) How to ensure a better integration of sectors? Importance of co-ordination mechanisms (National Councils/Boards) Line ministries and other data producers to be involved in the process from the beginning Advocacy is a key element / continuous action Using the existing best practices in sectors: for example GDDS or DQAF education Donors’ responsibility in terms of alignment 19

Costing is a crucial (and difficult) step Costing and funding (1) Costing is a crucial (and difficult) step Investment and recurrent costs Expected burden on national budget and external financing requirements How resources will be used: equipment, HR, censuses, surveys, etc Cost effectiveness: alternative approaches and comparison with costs in other countries 20

Funding Costing and funding (2) Needs commitments from government and external partners Set implementation within time frame of policy frameworks (e.g. PRS) and budgetary cycles Be realistic. Don’t frighten governments! Identify and attract potential development partners (specific mechanism for dialogue between the government and the community of donors) 21

CONCLUSIONS (1) A good strategy is one that is implemented and achieves its goals on time and within budget Depends on careful design and management NSDS needs to be achievable and flexible, needs to respond to new demands for data (national, regional, and international) and the changing environment Financing requirements need to respond to user needs but be realistic about resources Strategic management is a continuous process, building on what exists 22

CONCLUSIONS (2) The NSDS process is a good opportunity to address specific issues such as legal environment, co-ordination of the NSS, status of the CSO, position of Government statistician Implementation without skilled and trained staff is impossible 23

THANK YOU www.paris21.org 24