Poverty Monitoring - Good Practice in Selecting Indicators Presentation by Dirk U. Hahn, Consultant at the Workshop on Prioritization, Operationalization and Costing, Vientiane, Lao PDR, October, 20 – 22, 2004 Based on: The World Bank, Poverty Monitoring Guidance Note 1 – Selecting Indicators, Washington 2004, and Statistics Norway, Basic Social Policy Data – Basic Data to Monitor Status & Intended Policy Effects with Focus on Social Sectors Incorporating Millennium Development Goals and Indicators, Oslo 2002.

The MDGs and the NGPES The Millennium Development Goals are goals, targets and well defined indicators, but without a focus on how the goals should be reached. A Poverty Reduction Strategy like the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy focuses exactly on how to reach certain goals.

Definitions Goals are the objectives a country wants to achieve (i.e. achieve universal primary education ) Indicators are the variables used to measure progress toward the goals (i.e. progress towards achieving universal primary education can be tracked using the indicator net enrolment in primary schools) Targets are quantified levels of indicators a country wants to achieve at a given point in time (i.e. 95% net enrolment in primary schools by 2015)

Implementing and Monitoring In order to track progress in implementing a poverty reduction strategy it is necessary to - select appropriate indicators, - have the targets set, and - have a system in place to measure, monitor, and analyze progress in the indicators selected. Selecting indicators is the initial stage for monitoring this process.

What is the main chain of effects in the process from resource allocation to the impact on goals? Indicators for Monitoring the Process

The Process Has Four Main Stages, and Thus Four Types of Indicators to Monitor the Effects 1. Sector and internal sector resource allocation Spending on reproductive health personal* 2. Standard of services generated by the use of inputs Number of skilled births attendants* Proportion of births attended by skilled health personal Maternal mortality ratio 3. Access to services and use of these services 4. Impact on ultimate goals and poverty reduction InputOutputOutcomeImpact * = Example

Example from the Education Sector 1. Sector and internal sector resource allocation Spending on multi grade teachers training* 2. Standard of services generated by the use of inputs Number of multi grade teachers trained* Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5 Literacy rate in the age group years old 3. Access to services and use of these services 4. Impact on ultimate goals and poverty reduction InputOutputOutcomeImpact Spending on primary school feeding* Number of pupils benefiting from school feeding* * = Example

Why is it Important to Monitor at All 4 Stages? 1. To understand the link between the input, the output, the outcome, and the impact. 2. To establish the baseline data (short-term). 3. To assess the progress made at the various stages providing information for analysis and diagnosis (short, medium, and long-term). 4. To identify where changes or additional efforts might be needed, for instance Did outputs translate into outcomes? (medium and long-term). 5. The indicators should be complemented with indicators describing the country context in which the PRSP is implemented.

Some Features of Good Indicators The selection of indicators should be based on existing indicators (i.e. MDG/NGPES indicators). Indicators should be well defined to follow the effects throughout the process. Indicators should be easy to understand and reliable. Indicators should be consistent with decision making cycle at the responsible level. Indicators should be consistent with data availability and data collection capacity.

The Process of Selecting Indicators On the technical side, the choice of indicators depends on the types of data available and the data collection capacity in a country. Choosing indicators is ultimately a political process, in that it reflects priorities and induces accountability. Demand for Information Supply of Data Priority Indicators for inputs, outputs, outcomes and impact.

Thank You for Your Attention.