By Aminata Phidelia Allie
The University of Sierra Leone, together with ministries, departments and agencies and civil society organisations, has called for robust data collection and analysis, if the country should meet any of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), set for 2015.
The initiative to bring together research institutions from the developing countries to examine how the universal post-2015 framework could be applied across a variety of country contexts, particularly how progress could be measured at country level, saw the selection of six countries, representing a range of low, middle and high income.
They are Bangladesh, Canada, Peru Senegal, Tanzania Turkey.
Lately however, Sierra Leone and Ghana were added to the countries of case studies.
In his keynote address at a day’s engagement with multi-stakeholders last week, former head of the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) said there was a need to strengthen data and statistics at national level and align capacities with the requirement of international comparisons and monitoring “as well as associated issues of accountability”.
Dr Nathaniel Wellington said that although there were improvements in the statistical and data support to development policies, there was a number of weaknesses and gaps that needed to be addressed and improved to ensure a higher degree of robustness in the process.
The public, he said, needed to generate reliable statistical data, “on a timely basis, comprehending the gamut of the social, economical, political and cultural dimensions of the African realities”. He went on that such information must be provided on a harmonised basis, anchored in common methodologies and disseminated as required to all concerned parties.
A representative from the North/South Institute in Canada, Shannon Kindornay, explained that one of the key issues being debated internationally was how all the countries could have a universal agenda that would cut across all countries.
She added that one of the key things the study was trying to find out was “what would be the national priority within the broad concept of the goal area that the international community is looking at”.
She said they would also look at issues surrounding those occasions in which confusing data had been given in the past, in terms of its feasibility and “what had been the drives”, adding that the international team working on the data packaging revolution was very excited about the date revolution.
A representative from IPAR, a think tank based in Senegal also gave a rundown of activities undertaken by the team in that country.
The workshop was also held in Ghana yesterday, May 14.
(C) Politico 20/05/14
