1. Social Indicators & Equity Information System
for Latin America and the Caribbean
Jose Antonio Mejia
MECOVI Program Coordinator
Inter-American Development Bank
April 24, 2006
________________________________________

2. Description.
Justification.
Sources and Methodology.
Audience.
Demostration.
Next steps.

3. Description
eQxIS: Is an information System featuring an easily accessible interface that offers:
Graphics and tabulations of social indicators.
Disaggregations by income groups, geographical (urban /rural) areas and ethnic background.
Information available for 22 countries, beginning in With more than 80 household surveys processed.
Meta data and transparent methodology.

4. Justification Usefulness of averages for social indicators is limited.
Disaggregated indicators allow to assess:
1) Equity: The gap between poor and non poor, among quintiles.
2) Pro-poor social development: If achievements or setbacks harmed or benefited the population equally.
3) Compare social development among countries. In which countries the poorest have advanced faster than others.
4) Assess Sector Priorities: which sectors in society feature wider access gaps for the poor.

5. Sources and Methodology
Estimations are based on the Household Surveys Data Bank from the MECOVI Program (more than 300 surveys for 22 countries).
The MECOVI program (since 1996, IADB-WB- ECLAC) has significantly contributed to increase the availability and quality of Household Surveys in Latin America.
Millennium Development Goals Social-Economic Indicators and others.
Using definitions of MDGs indicators provided by the United Nations.

6. Sources and Methodology
MECOVI
Household Survey
Data Base
UN Indicators for monitoring MDGs +
Web page Display
* Calculation of indicators based on UN definitions. Disaggregating by :
- Income quintiles
- Gender
- Geographic Area
- Ethnic background
* Calculation of stat. significance figures
*Codification
Stata
Submission of coded database to Access
Consistency of Data
Display data features:
standard error less than 20% of average value
more than 30 sample observations
ASP Programs and Access inquiries

7. Audience
eQxIS is an information system useful to policy makers, IDB’s staff, donors, researchers and civil society
Offers social indicators monitoring system with an equity approach and with international comparisons- LAC.
Offers users easy access to social indicators for 22 countries for up to four points in time.
Easy to interpret and to export to working documents (Research tool).
Support instrument to donors. Input to view the state of things beyond averages.
WE HAVE COMMON INTERESTS, LET’S PULL IN THE SAME DIRECTION.

8. www.iadb.org/xindicators Demostration
WE HAVE COMMON INTERESTS, LET’S PULL IN THE SAME DIRECTION.

9. Next steps Expansion: Indicators and data sources
-Additional Indicators. e.g. Health indicators from DHS.
-Sub-national Disaggregations. Using Census Data to construct Poverty Maps.
Continue validation process with countries.
Transfer technology to countries.

10. Our site: www.iadb.org/xindicators