PARIS21 National Strategies for the Development of Statistics: Design and implementation issues 8 July 2010, Nouméa

Design and implementation issues: outline Three issues Mainstreaming of sectors Costing and funding Management change and changing people

Mainstreaming the sectors (1) A recent investigation on agriculture (in collaboration with FAO) showed that no more than 10% of low-income countries have mainstreamed appropriately the agricultural sector in the strategy design In general sectors producing indicators for MDGs (health, education) have been better covered in the strategy Situation even worse when looking at effective implementation Evaluation not yet fully done however (NSDS process is recent)

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 policies’ knowledge by statisticians  Lack of human resources and inappropriate funding  Influence of donors and international institutions on their sector without interest in coordination  Sometimes absence of ownership of the process

Mainstreaming the sectors (3) Two existing approaches  Bottom-up  Top-down

Mainstreaming the sectors (4) 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 AgricultureHealthEducationFinancesOthers

Mainstreaming the sectors (5) Top-down approach: majority of countries Global NSDS With Sub-committees on sectors Overall NSDS Sub-strategies for sectors More detailed for sectors if necessary NSDS AgricultureHealthEducationFinancesOthers

Mainstreaming the sectors (6) How to ensure a better integration of sectors? Importance of coordination mechanisms (National Councils) Line ministries and other data producers to be involved in the process from the beginning Advocacy is a key element Using the existing best practices in sectors: for example GDDS or DQAF education, soon DQAF agriculture Donors’ responsibilities in terms of alignment

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

Costing and funding (2) Funding 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 Some mechanisms >

Costing and funding (3) Some mechanisms of funding Funding – Regional funding (AdB, EU…) – UN system support – Bilateral donors (AusAID, NZAID, others) – WB Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building – WB STATCAP – Statistics for Results Facility (SRF) managed by WB

Change management … Change management is an important issue in planning and implementing an NSDS. Organisations and individuals will need to change and change is difficult. Change needs to be well planned and well managed. Change takes time and does not lead to immediate improvements.

…. and changing people Few “people” problems can be solved quickly Importance of: – Leadership and management: communication, creating awareness, maintaining support – Engaging and motivating staff: individual job plans and appraisal and incentive systems; non-financial incentives; recognition of work done and delegation

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 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

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

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