PARIS21 SUB-REGIONAL WORKSHOP HELD AT KAMPALA ...

PARIS21 SUB-REGIONAL WORKSHOPHELD AT KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL

CONFERENCE CENTREKAMPALA, UGANDA

(15-16 NOVEMBER 2000)

WORKSHOP REPORT

Uganda Bureau of StatisticsP.O. Box 13EntebbeUgandae-mail: [email protected]: www.ubos.org

PARIS21 SecretariatRan 1642, 2 rue Andre’-Pascal75775 Paris Cedex 16,Francee-mail: [email protected]: www.PARIS21.org

Report of PARIS21 Workshop 15 - 16 November 2000 Kampala, Uganda

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Table of Contents

PageTable of Contents iAcronyms iiExecutive Summary iii

Section 1: Introduction1.1 Background 11.2 Workshop organization 11.3 Workshop Officials 21.4 Organization of the Report 3

Section 2: Opening Ceremony2.1 Opening Remarks by the Chairman 42.2 Opening Remarks by the Chairman of the Board of Directors 42.3 Opening Speech by Honourable Minister of Finance, Planning and

Economic Development 4

Section 3: Workshop Proceedings3.1 Scope of the Workshop 63.2 Introduction to PARIS21 63.3 Data Demand for Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers 83.4 Statistics to Support Policy 93.5 Poverty Monitoring 103.6 Development of Partnerships 113.7 Relationships between PARIS21 and Addis Ababa Plan of Action for

Statistical Development 133.8 Support for Developing Information Strategies and Capabilities

- Donor Perspectives 143.9 Poverty Monitoring and Employment Issues 15

Section 4: Country by Country Reports4.1 Introduction 174.2 Data Demand for Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers 174.3 Poverty Monitoring 194.4 Development of Partnerships 23

Section 5: Conclusions, Recommendations and Action Points for Follow-up5.1 Conclusions 265.2 Recommendations 275.3 Action Points for Follow-up 28

Annexes:Annex I: Workshop Programme 30Annex II: List of Participants 32Annex III: Opening Speech by the Minister of Finance, Planning and

Economic Development 36


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Acronyms

AAPA Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s

CBS Central Bureau of Statistics

CSA Central Statistical Authority

DAC Development Assistance Countries

DFID Department for International Development

EC European Commission

HBS Household Budget Surveys

HIPC Highly Indebted Poor Country participatory, qualitative assessment

ILO International Labour Organization

IMF International Monetary Fund

KILM Key Indicators of the Labour Market

NBS National Bureau of Statistics

NDS National Department of Statistics

NGOs Non Government Organisations

NPES National Poverty Eradication Strategy

NSO National Statistical Office

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PAF Poverty Action Fund

PARIS21 Partnership Advocacy Information Strategies for the 21st Century

PEAP Poverty Eradication Action Plan

PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers

SADC Southern African Development Countries

SIS Sequenced Information Strategy

SWAPS Sector Wide Approaches

UBOS Uganda Bureau of Statistics

UN United Nations

UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa


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Executive Summary

Background

The PARIS21 Sub-regional Workshop was held on 15th and 16th November 2000 at theInternational Conference Centre, Kampala. The workshop was held as one of the major activitiesof Africa Statistics Week that was celebrated by the Uganda Statistical System to create greaterawareness about the importance of and raise the profile of statistics in the life of the country. HisExcellency the President of the Republic of Uganda graced the celebrations. The workshopwhich was officially opened by the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Developmentdrew 89 participants from Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.The participants included main stakeholders in national statistics, namely statisticians, planners,policy makers, members of the civil society and the private sector, donors and internationalorganizations.

The workshop was jointly organised by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics and PARIS21 Secretariatunder the theme, “Developing Partners in Support of Poverty Monitoring Strategies andother Priority Policy Areas”. This theme fed into the main theme for the Africa Statistics Daycelebrations, “Strengthening Statistical Capacities for Measuring and Monitoring Poverty”.The objectives of the Workshop were to create networks; develop partnerships betweengovernments, civil society and donors; and share ideas, knowledge and experiences at regionaland sub-regional levels. A number of presentations were made and lively discussions held on thefollowing topics:

• Introduction to PARIS21• Data Demand for Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers• Statistics for Development and Support of Policies• Country Experiences on Poverty Monitoring• Developing Partnerships• Relationship between PARIS21 and Addis-Ababa Plan of Action• Support for Developing Information Strategies and Capabilities; a Donor Perspective• Next Steps.

Main Conclusions

ThE following main conclusions were reached:

• there is a need to boost statistical capacities through promoting a culture for setting andmonitoring policy based on evidence and by fostering well-managed national statisticalsystems that use resources effectively. This could be achieved by creating networks;developing partnerships between governments, civil society and donors; and sharing ideas,knowledge and experiences at regional and sub-regional levels.


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• there is a need for involvement in the poverty reduction strategy process, making better use ofexisting data (data mining), producing Sequenced Information Strategy (SIS) to supportpriority information needs of government and to form partnerships with donors to buildcapacity in support of the SIS. In this context, there is need for better definition of concepts tofit the African reality and use of appropriate methods.

• there is a need for countries to develop Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) asinstruments for countrys’ relations with the donor community and as a basis for concessionallending to countries as well as debt relief under the HIPC Initiative. The need for the PRSPsto be country-owned and to be developed in a consultative and participatory manner, to bepremised on a proper understanding of the nature and determinants of poverty and the linksbetween public actions and poverty outcomes; and to perceive economic growth as one of thepre-requisites for poverty reduction was emphasized.

• both quantitative and qualitative data are needed to assess the process of implementation,monitoring and updating of the PRSP. There is need for data to capture intra-householdrelations, to be collected in a timely manner and to be disaggregated to sub-national levels.

• data from surveys should be collected in a cost-effective manner and should be supplementedby secondary data from other sectors. Time series should be built and there is also a need tobuild inter-disciplinary national capacity for poverty and related analysis.

• the role of the National Statistical Office is pivotal in the production of statistics required forpolicy formulation and monitoring. The office should enjoy a degree of autonomy and shouldhave attractive terms and conditions of service for staff.

• official statistics should be seen as a public good to be made readily available to all users. Itis essential to co-ordinate data producers and to promote "best practices" among them, and toco-ordinate data producers and users and to sensitise decision-makers about the need to makeresources available for data collection.

• poverty monitoring should investigate levels, changes and causes of poverty. It shoulddetermine whether development policies and programmes are actually reducing poverty, seekconsensus on appropriate indicators of poverty and monitor both the means and ends inpoverty reduction, examine the causal relations between the indicators at different levels,build sustainable long-term national statistical capacity based on existing systems andprocesses, collect data on various socio-economic groups and co-ordinate the nationalstatistical system to ensure that data produced by different institutions are consistent withdata from household surveys.

• There is a need to forge partnerships for reducing poverty. Partnerships and rules ofengagement should be well defined, ingredients of and structural factors that underminesuccessful partnerships should also be taken into account. Initiatives like PARIS21 and theAddis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa reinforce partnershipprinciples, as do comprehensive approaches to development.

Recommendations


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The following recommendations were made:

� Mobilisation of resources at all levels - international, national, and/or lower levels towardstraining and capacity building should be undertaken. Countries were urged to be innovative inthis respect.

� Partnership at country level between producers and users of statistics should be developedand/or enhanced. There is a need for regional and sub-regional co-operation of countries toshare experiences and where possible resources.

� Extensive training needs assessment should be undertaken in each country. This will be usedto identify on-job training, regional workshops and fellowship opportunities. Training areasthat may require priority attention include data compilation, processing, analysis anddissemination.

� Use of "best practices" should be adopted in each country. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics(UBOS) was urged to spearhead this area by producing a well-documented case study to actas a model, which could be disseminated through the UBOS Web site as reference andlearning material for partner states.

� Stakeholders’ workshops should be held at national level for government officials, policymakers, civil society (including the mass media) and the general data users for advocacy.

� Countries should prepare action plans for development of well managed databases that areeasily accessible to the policy makers and other data users.

� There should be co-ordination of donor assistance for statistical development to ensure thatinternational resources have greater and lasting impact. Such resources could be channelledthrough the national statistical offices to the priority areas of attention.

� There is need to ensure that national statistical offices are entrusted with good leadership andhighly skilled professionals.

� Countries should improve staff remuneration, motivation and facilitation as key instrumentsin developing a reliable and consistent national statistical system.

Action Points for Follow-up The workshop agreed on the following action points:

• Each country should as a matter of urgency, form a National Co-ordination Committeefrom where two members (one representing the producers and the other users) would benominated to the Sub-regional Steering Committee.

• Both committees were to be in place by February 2001. Guidelines for co-ordinationshould be worked out by the Secretariat.

• The Sub-regional Steering Committee to be set up should develop the objectives for thenext meeting, taking into consideration all recommendations made at this workshop.


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• Countries in the sub-region should constitute a PARIS21 East Africa Chapter.• The Uganda Bureau of Statistics was selected as the Secretariat for the PARIS21 East

Africa Chapter.


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Section 1

Introduction

1.1 Background

In order to reverse the decline in statistical production in the 1970s and 1980s, the 16th Meetingof African Ministers responsible for Economic Planning and Development adopted the AddisAbaba Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s. Among other things,the Plan of Action set aside the 18th of November each year to be celebrated as Africa StatisticsDay in order to “increase public awareness about the important role which statistics play in allaspects of social and economic life”. Uganda has been celebrating this day since 1992. However,as part of the strategy of the newly established Uganda Bureau of Statistics to raise the profile ofstatistics in the country and with support of Government, the event assumed the status of a nationalevent. In addition, the duration of the celebration was increased to a week.

The main activities of the Africa Statistics Week included radio and T.V discussions, publicationof various articles in daily newspapers, electronic display of major statistical sub-systems(Health, Education, Biomass, Meteorology, Consumer Price Index, GDP estimation, UgandaNational Household Survey and District Resource Information System), a two-day PARIS21Workshop for East Africa and the Horn, a Donors’ Conference for the Institute of Statistics andApplied Economics (Makerere University) and a major Symposium on Statistical Developmentin Uganda..The PARIS21 Sub-regional Workshop was held from 15th to 16th November 2000 at theInternational Conference Centre, Kampala. The theme for the workshop, “Developing Partnersin Support of Poverty Monitoring Strategies and other Priority Policy Areas”, fed into themain theme for the Africa Statistics Day celebrations, “Strengthening Statistical Capacities forMeasuring and Monitoring Poverty”. A number of presentations were made and discussionsheld on several topics focusing on developing partnerships in the development of policies andstrengthening of capacities to monitor and eradicate poverty. The full workshop programme isgiven in Annex I.

1.2 Workshop Organization

The Workshop was jointly organised by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics and PARIS21Consortium. The Workshop drew 89 participants from Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea,Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The participants included main stakeholders in nationalstatistics, namely statisticians, planners, policy makers, members of the civil society and theprivate sector, donors and international organizations. The full list of participants and theinstitutions and countries they represented is given in Annex II.


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1.3 Workshop Officials

The workshop officials were as follows:

Session Chairpersons

1. Mr. John Male-Mukasa, Executive Director, Uganda Bureau of Statistics2. Mr. Arthur Mwakapugi, Director of Macro-Economic Statistics, National Bureau

of Statistics, Tanzania3. Ms Samia Zekaria, Deputy General Manager, Central Statistical Authority,

Ethiopia4. Mr. H. Mbaruku, Director of Statistical Operations, National Bureau of Statistics,

Tanzania5. Mr. J. Mari, Director of Statistics, Central Bureau of Statistics, Kenya6. Dr. O.O. Ajaayi, International Consultant with PARIS21

Facilitators

1. Ms. Mary Strode, PARIS21 Secretariat Senior Consultant2. Ms. Lynn Macdonald, DFID Statistical Advisor at Uganda Bureau of Statistics3. Dr. O.O. Ajaayi, Consultant with PARIS21

Paper Presenters

1. Ms. Mar Strode, PARIS21 Secretariat Senior Consultant2. Mr. Tony Williams, DFID Chief Statistician3. Mr. James Mubiru, Deputy Executive Director, Uganda Bureau of Statistics4. Dr. O.O Ajaayi, PARIS21 Consultant5. Mr. Keith Muhakanizi, Director for Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance,

Planning and Economic Development, Uganda6. Ms. Margaret Kakande, Poverty Analyst, Ministry of Finance, Planning and

Economic Development, Uganda7. Mr. J. Ogai, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Kenya,8. Ms. Samia Zekaria, Deputy General Manager, Central Statistical Authority,

Ethiopia9. Mr. Arthur Mwakapugi, President’s Office, Tanzania10. Mr. Charles Gasana, Ministry of Planning, Rwanda11. Mr. J.A. Kiriwaggolu, Ministry of Agriculture, Tanzania12. Mr. Ainom Berhane, Eritrea13. Mr. Ngendanganya, ISTEEBU, Burundi

Rapporteurs


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1. Ms. Imelda Atai, Principal Statistician, Uganda Bureau of Statistics2. Mr. Bernard Justus Muhwezi, Principal Cartographer, Uganda Bureau of Statistics

Advisor

1. Prof. Ben Kiregyera, Chairman of Board of Directors, Uganda Bureau of Statistics2. Mr. Francis Mashate, Secretary to the Board, Uganda Bureau of Statistics

1.4 Organization of the Report

This report is organized in a number of sections. Section 1 gives a general background to theworkshop. Section 2 presents the proceedings of the opening ceremony. Section 3 gives countryexperiences on specific topics and, Section 4 presents the main workshop conclusion,recommendations and action points for follow-up. The report gives an Executive Summary thatincludes action points for follow-up. The Annex contains the workshop programme, list ofparticipants and the opening speech by the Guest of Honour.


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Section 2

Opening Ceremony.

2.1 Opening Remarks by the Chairperson

Mr. John B. Male-Mukasa, the Executive Director of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics chaired theopening ceremony. The Chairperson welcomed the workshop participants to the openingceremony. He extended special welcome to participants coming from outside Uganda and wishedthem good stay in Kampala. He also extended special welcome to Mr. Tony Williams (DFIDChief Statistician), Ms. Mary Strode (PARIS21 Senior Consultant) Dr. O. O. Ajaayi (PARIS21Consultant), Ms. Lynn Macdonald (the DFID Statistical Advisor at the Uganda Bureau ofStatistics), Prof. Ben Kiregyera (Chairman of the Board of Directors, Uganda Bureau ofStatistics) and the Guest of Honour, Hon. Gerald Sendaula.

The Chairperson informed the workshop participants that the workshop was one of the mainactivities lined up for the Africa Statistics Week celebrations. He invited them to participate inall these activities.

2.2 Opening Remarks by the Chairman of the Board of Directors

Before inviting the Guest of Honour to open the workshop, the Chairman of the Board ofDirectors of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics also welcomed participants, facilitators and theHonourable Minister to the opening ceremony. He briefly outlined the strategies the newlycreated Uganda Bureau of Statistics had adopted to fulfil its mandate of acting “as the principaldata collecting and disseminating agency responsible for co-ordinating, monitoring andsupervising the National Statistical System”. In this connection, he singled out co-ordination -co-ordination among data producers, between data producers and users, between data producersand research and training organizations and among donors - as a key to the development ofstatistics in Uganda.

The Chairman thanked the PARIS21 Secretariat for responding to the invitation by the Bureau tohold the workshop in Kampala and for sending its Senior Consultant and another Consultant tofacilitate the Workshop. He then invited the Guest of Honour to open the workshop.

2.3 Opening Speech by Honourable Minister of Finance, Planning and EconomicDevelopment

The Workshop was opened by the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development,Hon. Gerald Sendaula. In his opening address, the Minister welcomed all participants to theworkshop and to Uganda. He mentioned that the choice of Uganda to host the workshop was notby accident but by design. He was happy to note that a partnership, aimed to build statistical


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capacity in support of evidence-based policy making was being developed between donors andthe countries represented in the workshop.

The Minister mentioned that Uganda had carried out far-reaching statistical reform and that alegal framework had been established under the Uganda Bureau of Statistics Act, 1998 to makeprovision of statistical data and information in the country more efficient and responsive to userneeds. He underscored the importance of the workshop from the point of view of data users, dataproducers and donors. The workshop, he said, was also important as it would enable thecountries of East Africa with common socio-economic conditions to share experience andexchange information on many issues of interest including: common understanding of prioritiesand information needs of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and Sector WideApproaches (SWAPs). The seriousness with which the Uganda Government was taking thechallenge of poverty eradication was highlighted. In particular, it was mentioned that Uganda hadin 1995 developed and was implementing a Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP). Theimportance of statistics in the development and implementation of PEAP was underscored. Finally the Minister invited Uganda’s neighbours to share in her experience in designing andimplementing PEAP as well as in the re-engineering of the national statistical system to meetdata needs for poverty monitoring.


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Section 3

Workshop Proceedings

3.1 Scope of the Workshop

A number of papers were presented at this workshop on different topics. The workshop alsoincluded presentation, discussion and sharing of country experiences. The topics coveredincluded the following:

• Introduction to PARIS21• Data Demand for Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers• Statistics for Development and Support of Policies• Country Experiences on Poverty Monitoring• Developing Partnerships• Relationship between PARIS21 and Addis-Ababa Plan of Action• Support for Developing Information Strategies and Capabilities; a Donor Perspective• Next Steps.

3.2 Introduction to PARIS21

PARIS21 was introduced as an international consortium of more than 300 members comprisingpolicy makers and statisticians from donor and developing countries, international organisations,professional bodies and academic institutions. These members have practical experience andwish to collaborate to improve policy making through reliable and pertinent statistics. ThePARIS21 consortium was established in November 1999 at a Senior Expert Meeting held inParis and sponsored by four international bodies, namely, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations (UN), World Bank, International MonetaryFund (IMF) and European Commission (EC). The consortium seeks to boost statisticalcapacities, especially in poor developing countries through promoting a culture for setting andmonitoring policy based on evidence and by fostering well-managed national statistical systemsthat use resources effectively.

PARIS21 works through Partnerships, Advocacy, Resources, Information and Strategies, viz.:

Partnership bringing together donors and Governments in support of country-owneddevelopment strategies

Advocacy to demonstrate the power and use of statistics for policy decisions

Resources mobilization to be able to collect the right information for policy making

Information exchange to share knowledge and foster co-ordination


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Strategies to build sustainable statistical capacity, by better use of data as a tool formore effective development

Specific Objectives of PARIS21

These were given as:

• putting countries in control of country-owned statistical systems with senior levelsupport.

• serving key policy areas through priority setting and steering processes.

• improving statistical information and resources by addressing the required data needssuch as data mining and analysis.

• effective co-ordination and support of both national and international resources, and

• putting in place sequenced information strategy by taking into account the existingcapacities, resource constraints and other needs such as professional standards and theneed for legislation.

The PARIS21 Secretariat is located in Paris, France. The consortium is not owned by anyorganisation and both bilateral and multilateral donors fund it. Currently an Interim SteeringCommittee is being established to include country representation, in addition to multilateral andbilateral donor representation. It was also mentioned that PARIS21 works through eight (8) TaskTeams that include:

Task Team Purpose 1. Advocacy Products Making the case for better information 2. Information Exchange Database of statistical capacity building 3. Sequenced Information Strategies Process and experience 4. Poverty Monitoring and Statistical

Capacity Indicators

5. Methodologies and technologies Developments and costs 6. GDDS and Social Indicators Inputs for elaborating socio-demographic

component 7. Census Improving funding and management of censuses 8. Food and Agriculture Data Indicators for monitoring food insecurity and

vulnerability

A meeting of the consortium held in June 2000 in Montreux, Switzerland focused on thefollowing issues:


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• better communication with policy makers• user friendly, targeted products

• statistics for effective development policy• information for policy monitoring and adjustment• country co-ordinated sequenced information strategies• key government policies using Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP).

It was also during this meeting that a decision was made to hold regional workshops to establishnetworks for PARIS21 action and to address regional issues. The Kampala Workshop was thefirst regional workshop on the African continent and it was expected to be followed by aSouthern African Development Community (SADC) Workshop slated for December 2000. TheWorkshops are convened with the need to create networks; develop partnerships betweengovernments, civil society and donors; share ideas, knowledge and experiences at regional andsub-regional levels. At these levels as well as at country level, there was to be dialogue/debateinvolving data producers, policy makers, the media and other data users. Other actions envisagedinclude involvement in the poverty reduction strategy process, making better use of existing data,producing Sequenced Information Strategy (SIS) to support priority information needs ofgovernment and to form partnerships with donors to build capacity in support of the SIS.

3.3 Data Demand for Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) Poverty was presented as a multi-dimesional and complex phenomenon requiring adequate andreliable data and information. It was also observed that there was general lack of statisticalinformation and clear understanding of the phenomenon. It was mentioned that countries tendedto look at poverty in an ad hoc and disjointed manner and that there was a clear lack of a coherentframework for poverty analysis. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) werepresented as an instrument for a country’s relations with the donor community and as a basis forconcessional lending to countries as well as debt relief under the HIPC Initiative. The following were considered essential for a successful PRSP process:

• PRSP should be country-owned and its development should be carried out in aconsultative and participatory manner. In particular, the PRSP should be drafted byrelevant national authorities with broad stakeholder participation including the civilsociety and elected institutions (Parliament). Key donors and relevant financialinstitutions should be available to support the process by providing policy advice andexternal finance.

• In order to conduct a PRSP, there is need to have a proper understanding of the natureand determinants of poverty and the links between public actions and poverty outcomes.Such understanding should help to determine an action plan to reduce poverty.

• There is need to determine beneficiaries using Incident Benefit Analysis.• Countries without sufficient experience need to set targets using the experience of

countries with the same socio-economic conditions.• Economic growth should be seen as one of the pre-requisites for poverty reduction.


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It was mentioned that both quantitative and qualitative data were needed to assess the process ofimplementation, monitoring and updating of the PRSP. Household surveys were seen as the mainsource of quantitative data for monitoring the implementation of PRSP. These surveys, however,need to provide data in a timely manner which was usually not the case in African countries. Itwas also observed that data from household surveys are generally not sufficiently disaggregatedto give a meaningful picture at sub-national level. This was particularly a serious problem giventhat poverty tends to be location specific. Household surveys, it was mentioned, also fail tocapture intra-household relations which makes it difficult to fully analyse gender issues which arekey to poverty reduction. It was, therefore, observed that there was need to supplement such databy secondary data from such sectors as health, education, agriculture, etc. The need forqualitative assessments through a participatory process was also stressed.

Other data related issues which were mentioned include the need for time-series data to gaugepast performance, look at capacities and determine targets; the need for establishing a nationaldatabase for ease of analysis of poverty issues; and the need to establish a multi-disciplinarynational capacity for poverty and related analysis.

It was observed that although all countries participating in the workshop were involved in aprocess of monitoring poverty, only Uganda had completed the PRSP process.

3.4 Statistics for Policy Formulation

It was noted that the National Statistical Offices (NSOs) were key in the production of statisticsrequired for policy formulation, including statistics on national accounts, trade, finance, priceindices, industry, agriculture, population and social statistics.

The following observations were made about statistics for policy formulation:

• Official statistics were seen as a public good whose production should be theresponsibility of national governments.

• Official statistics should not be commercialised. It was particularly important for NSOsthat were becoming autonomous not to over-stretch the idea of revenue generation.

• There was need to co-ordinate data producers to ensure that data from differentinstitutions are consistent and comparable. Promotion of "best practices" in statisticalproduction was stressed. There was also a need for co-ordination between data producersand users in part to advance common understanding of policy issues and related datarequirements as well as setting data priorities.

• It was noted that surveys were very expensive statistical activities to conduct. It was thusimportant to sensitise decision-makers about the need to make resources available toenable required data to be collected. The NSOs should also be mindful of the need to beinnovative and to conduct lighter, faster and more affordable surveys.

• The development of the capacity to collect data at NSOs has not been matched by thedevelopment of the capacity to analyse it. As a result a lot of data exist which have beeninsufficiently processed and analysed. This was attributed to limited analytical capacity


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within NSOs to carry out policy related analysis. NSOs were, therefore, urged tocollaborate with national research and training institutions to be able to carry out full

analysis of collected data.• Timely release of data enhances their utility. NSOs were, therefore, urged to establish a

release timetable and to release data accordingly.• There was need to educate users about the importance of statistics and to empower them

to use data in their work. Coupled with this was the need for statistical systems todisseminate statistical data and information in a user-friendly manner.

• There was need for official statistics to be made readily available to users. It wasmentioned that development of a national databank would go a long way in making dataavailable to users.

3.5 Poverty Monitoring

It was mentioned that poverty monitoring investigates levels, changes and causes of poverty,including the success or failure of public actions intended to reduce poverty, such as the actionsof the Uganda’s Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP). Since not all changes in poverty are theresult of public actions, poverty monitoring investigates all the main factors that cause change inpoverty.

In conducting poverty monitoring, the following need to be undertaken:

• determine whether development policies and programmes of government and itsdevelopment partners are actually reducing poverty;

• seek consensus on appropriate indicators of poverty and monitor both the means and endsin poverty reduction;

• examine the causal relations between the indicators at different levels. The most difficulttask was linking inputs to outcomes, since many inputs may be contributing to the sameoutcome;

• build sustainable long-term national statistical capacity based on existing systems andprocesses, capable of collecting, on a continuing basis, adequate and timely statisticalinformation on the agreed indicators;

• collect data on various socio-economic groups;

• co-ordinate the national statistical system to ensure that data produced by differentinstitutions and in particular, data from Institutional Management Information Systemsare consistent with data from household surveys with regard to operational definitions,concepts and classifications as well as data release time tables.

3.6 Developing Partnerships


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The workshop was presented some guidelines on forging partnerships for reducing poverty.These guidelines which cover characteristics of partnership, ingredients of successful

partnerships, the reality of aid in partnership, structural factors that undermine partnership, achange agenda, changing donor thinking and reflexes, what to do-rules of engagement andpertinent questions which need to be asked are based on the work of OECD.

Characteristics of partnerships

• A shared view of goals and objectives;• A clear understanding of and agreement on the roles and responsibilities of the different

partners;• Reciprocal, open dialogue and good communication;• Mutual accountability;• Trust (honesty and transparency).

Ingredients of successful partnerships

• Sustained effort to work out details of how, when and where to interact;• Time, space and facilitative effort;• The capacity and will to listen;• Co-ordination mechanisms;• Compatible practices and processes;• Capacity building;• Building confidence and self esteem (unequal positions);• Flexibility, the art of compromise;• Capacity and contributions of all partners recognised, appreciated and strengthened.

The reality of aid in partnership

• From whence the project?• Sound bites and media coverage;• Staff turnover, professionalism and skills/commitment in the field;• Duplication (data, documents, actions)• Initiative overload.

"Structural" factors that undermine partnership

• Disbursement pressures/supply-driven;• "waving the flag";• Short-term measurable "outputs" versus long-term intangible impact;• Heavy transactions costs (tracking, accounting, etc);• Centralised decision-making;• Control, certainty versus flexible, open-ended.


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A Change Agenda

• Communication;• Information;• Co-ordination framework/mechanisms;• Behaviour (team work/individual, sharing/proprietary, facilitating/directing,

flexibility/controlling);• Egos and "hidden" agendas.

Changing donor thinking and reflexes

• Management signals;• Organizational structures (mainstreaming, team work);• Decentralised decision-making;• Flexibility;• Screening and approval procedures;• Staff incentives;• Staff skills, training, recruitment.

What to do -rules of engagement

• Use the country’s poverty reduction strategy (PRSP) as framework for all countryassistance effort;

• Facilitate local mobilization, participation, monitoring and assessment;• Strengthen communication among partners;• Work to promote and consolidate joint work (data analysis, missions, evaluation,

management of aid flows);• As far as possible, delineate roles/responsibilities of partners; (multilaterals, regional

banks, UN System, bilaterals, NGOs, NSOs)• Work to build up, to reinforce, to consolidate, to reach consensus;• Never work alone;• Invest in co-ordination mechanisms and activities (voluntary, country-led, timely);• Donor institution-building ( leadership, commitment, continuity, partnership skills);• Support sector-wide reform and development;• Work to harmonise reporting and accounting requirements;• Make medium-term commitments.

It was reported that all countries appreciated the need for partnerships and countries were atdifferent stages in developing partnerships. Countries at an infant stage in the process wereencouraged to learn from those at advanced stage.

3.7 Relationship between PARIS21 and Addis-Ababa Plan of Action for StatisticalDevelopment in Africa (AAPA)


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It was noted that both the AAPA (1992) and PARIS21 (1999) were established to embark onstatistical capacity building so as to develop viable statistical information systems to support

government actions in policy formulation and decision-making processes. While AAPA wasdesigned to support the Lagos Plan of Action - an economic blue print for African economic andsocial development, the PARIS21 was put together out of a concern to reduce poverty indeveloping countries and especially the highly indebted ones.

It was in particular mentioned that the AAPA dealt with the following areas that are critical tostatistical production:

• Creating statistical awareness (African Statistics Day Celebrations);• Improvement of the quality of African statistics in terms of relevance, accuracy,

comprehensiveness and timeliness;• Management and organization of the national statistical systems;• Strategic statistical programming;• Training and retention of statistical personnel;• Scheme of service for statistical personnel;• Development of databases and in particular an authoritative information centre for Africa;• Improved methodologies and research into statistical production processes;• Improving data processing capabilities;• Capacity for data processing;• Capacity for data analysis;• Dissemination of statistical products;• Co-ordination of statistical activities within the national statistical offices.

Issues common to the two initiatives were given as:

• The strategy for capacity building;• Effective donor co-ordination;• Increasing awareness of policy makers about the role of data and the resources needed

for statistics;• Sequenced information systems;• Making better use of available resources through addressing the whole statistical system,

not just national statistical offices;• Donors being responsive to national demands and priorities.

The many problems that were faced in the implementation of AAPA were given and it was hopedthat PARIS21 would avoid these problems in its implementation. It was mentioned that theAAPA was currently undergoing an evaluation and a report was expected soon. There was aneed for a new plan to take account of the many initiatives with emphasis on co-ordination andpartnership.


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The Uganda Bureau of Statistics was challenged to share especially through the use ofpublications like Census documents, survey questionnaires, etc her experience in establishing

and developing the national statistical system, with other countries.

3.8 Support for Developing Information Strategies and Capabilities – DonorPerspective

The donor perspective for the development of information strategies and capabilities was givenby Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID). The international perspective ofDFID was to commit 50% of its contributions/donations to multilaterals and to participate as amedium bilateral donor for development of partnerships, poverty reduction strategies andstatistical capacity building. DFID’s partnership principal agenda aims at recognising the mostimportant contribution to development made by the people and governments of developingcountries and developed countries on their own development strategies and frameworks. Inaddition to ensuring long term commitments by development partners both at national andinternational levels, support is provided in terms of adequate resources for better co-ordinationand coherent technical co-operation.

One of the objectives for DFID’s participation in donor communities was to reduce povertylevels in nations, so as to obtain a target level of one half of the people above the poverty line.DFID has also assisted individual nations to develop their own national statistical systemsthrough sponsorship of workshops and services, etc.

It is DFID’s interest to see countries develop partnerships at international, regional, sub-regional,national and inter - sectoral levels, if the statistics industry is to strategically guide planning anddevelopment.

The new development agenda for DFID is to source most of her ideas from UN globalconferences, International Development Targets, and Development Partnership Strategy.

Most of the existing frameworks like CDF, UNDAF and PRSPs develop and reinforcepartnership principles as do comprehensive approaches to development (budgetary support,sector approaches, fewer and smaller projects).

The International Development Targets for DFID were:

• Reduction by one-half in the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by the year2015;

• Universal primary education in all counties by the year 2015;

• Elimination of gender disparity in primary and secondary education by the year 2005;

• Reduction by two-thirds in the mortality rates for infants and children under age five bythe year 2015;

• Reduction by three-quarters in maternal mortality, by the year 2015;


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• Access to reproductive health services for all individuals of appropriate ages as soon aspossible and not later than the year 2015;

• The implementation of national strategies for sustainable development in all countries bythe year 2005, so as to ensure that current trends in the loss of environmental resourcesare effectively reversed at both global and national levels by the year 2015;

The role and development of Sequenced Information Strategy (SIS) was stressed. The SISinvolves:

• Assessment of information needs for policy, management, monitoring andaccountability;

• Prioritization, timetabling demand/supply and identification of gaps;• Formulation of a Strategic Statistical Development Plan

- defining outputs, activities, inputs- strategies for delivery (human resources, information systems; analysis,

dissemination and use by Government and civil society; organization, institutionaldevelopment, costed, prioritised, timetables);

- work plan and resources (national and international resources) (costed, prioritised,timetabled).

Some success criteria for the SIS were given as:

• Country-owned and led with senior level support;• Overview of key information needs, timetable and costs;• Priority setting and steering process for SIS (need for a high level committee)• Addresses immediate needs for information and analysis e.g. in PRSPs (data mining,

analysis);• Lay foundations for sustainable long-term capacity development, building on existing

systems and processes;• Takes account of existing capacities, resource constraints and other needs e.g.

professional standards, need for legislation;• National and international resources co-ordinated and used effectively.

3.9 Poverty Monitoring and Employment Issues

The International Labour Organization (ILO) perspective on poverty monitoring and employmentwas that, to be able to monitor poverty properly, employment opportunities should be created.This would enable men and women who are willing to work to attain secure and sustainablelivelihood through freely chosen productive employment. A Labour Market Information Systemshould be set up with, for instance, the Bureau of Statistics co-ordinating such institutions asNational Trade Unions, NGOs, Research Institutions, Ministry of Gender Labour and SocialWelfare, Finance Planning and Economic Development, other Ministries and Federation ofUganda Employers.


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Some of the 18 Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM) identified by ILO in 1999 include:

• Employment-to-population ratio• Status in employment• Employment by sector• Part-time workers• Hours of work• Urban informal sector employment• Unemployment• Youth unemployment• Long-term unemployment• Unemployment by educational attainment• Time-related underemployment• Inactivity rate• Educational attainment and illiteracy• Real manufacturing wage indices• Hourly compensation costs• Productivity and unit labour costs• Poverty and income distribution• Educational attainment and illiteracy• Real manufacturing wage indices• Hourly compensation costs• Productivity and unit labour costs• Poverty and income distribution.


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Section 4

Country Experiences

4.1 Introduction

During the workshop, each country made a presentation on each of the main topics covered bythe workshop. In this chapter a brief summary is given of each country’s presentation.Recommendation/observations that were made during the plenary session are also highlighted.

4.2 Data Demand for Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP)

4.2.1 Presentations TANZANIA Tanzania was reported to have not yet implemented the PRSP. Another survey, the NationalPoverty Eradication Strategy (NPES) conducted way back in 1997, provided benchmark data foranalysis of the levels of poverty in the country. Currently, however, a Household Budget Survey(HBS) was on-going to update data collected in the previous HBS which was conducted in1991/92. Results from this survey are to be used as baseline data for the PRSP from whichindicators for poverty monitoring will be developed.

RWANDA The Rwandan government was reported to be building the national statistical system almost fromscratch as the system was also was destroyed during the war. Data obtained from the HouseholdSurvey conducted some time back is to be used as baseline data for the PRSP currently underdiscussion with donors.

KENYA Currently there exists no full PRSP in Kenya. Welfare surveys were conducted in 1992 and 1997to provide benchmark data on household expenditure with key economic and social statistics toaddress the issue of poverty.

ETHIOPIA The country had just completed an interim PRSP, which reviewed some of the key statisticalinformation in the country and set brief benchmark data. It was reported that the CentralStatistical Authority (CSA) conducted a Demographic and Health survey in 1999 which data wasused as benchmark data for the interim PRSP.

UGANDA


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Uganda was the only country that had finalised the process of developing the PRSP. It was

mentioned that poverty reduction is the government’s overarching development objective. Theprocess of developing Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP), the home-grown equivalent ofPRSP, started in 1996. PEAP which was finally launched in 1997 has guided the formulation ofgovernment policy and planning effort since then. Prior to the PEAP, planning concentrated onthe design and implementation of a series of three-year rolling investment plans. These have nowbeen replaced by the development of comprehensive, sector-wide programmes e.g. educationsector investment programme, plan for modernization of agriculture, health sector investmentprogramme, medium-term competitive strategy for the private sector 2000-2005, etc. The processof developing PEAP was long, consultative and participatory, with a number of stakeholdersincluding government officials, civil society, academia, donors, etc playing a pivotal role. PEAP was presented as a national planning framework and a strategy for the nation as a whole,aimed at improving the welfare of all Ugandans as well as eradicating poverty. The major goalsfor the action plan were given as: a) creating an enabling environment for fast and sustainable economic growth and structural

transformation;b) ensuring good governance and security;c) directly increasing the ability of the poor to raise their incomesd) directly increasing the quality of the life of the poor.

4.2.2 Observations/Discussions During discussions, the following issues were raised:

• Seeking autonomy for national statistical offices was important. However, doubt wasexpressed about such offices becoming income generating in a meaningful manner. Itwas also noted that although statistics should be demand driven, there was alwaysbasic statistical series required in any country that the national statistical offices shouldcollect and compile.

• It was observed that national statistical offices were concentrating on data collectionand compilation but not doing enough data analysis. Statistical offices were urged towork in partnership with other institutions especially research institutions anduniversities, to address this issue, in addition to generating their own analyticalcapacity.

• The cost of conducting surveys was seen to be high for African countries. There was aneed for innovation to ensure availability of cost effective data. The methods of datacollection through qualitative as opposed to quantitative methods needed to berevisited.


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• It was observed that there was a problem with inability of the users and sometimeseven producers to interpret data. Statistical offices were urged to educate data users in

the interpretation of statistical data. This could be done by organising workshops forcertain categories of users such as the members of Parliament and the media.

• The curricula at lower school needed to be looked into to address the issue of statisticaldevelopment. This would go along way in widening the understanding of the statisticsthat are required and issued to the public from time to time.

• The need to make statistical information user-friendly was emphasized.

• The need was expressed for countries in the sub-region to learn from Uganda’s PRSPprocess.

4.3 Poverty Monitoring – Country Experiences 4.3.1 Presentations

TANZANIA Efforts towards poverty monitoring began sometime back but with the introduction of PRSP, thesystem has introduced systematic appraisal of poverty eradication studies. To date Tanzania hadgenerated 75 indicators of poverty, which have been incorporated into the national database. Steering Committees were seen as a necessity for the management of PRSP which served as theumbrella organ for managing the infrastructural framework for population surveys, censuses,administration, analysis and dissemination of data. It was mentioned, however, that grassroot administrative registers to keep the villages owninformation on day-to-day activities were not yet in place partly because of technical and humancapacity at that level.

KENYA Although a Commission was set up, little has yet been done in the area of poverty monitoring.Previous assessments were however conducted in the districts and projects indicated but therewere a lot of data gaps. The Kenyan government has, therefore, specifically drawn programmes and projects that aredirectly involved in poverty eradication and given them priority.

ERITREA


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The statistical system was still in its infancy, and the government was building capacity anddeveloping a functional statistical infrastructure. As a result, there were huge data gaps in

relation to the increasing demand for the data. With regard to poverty monitoring, the government of Eritrea was participating in manyinternational workshops and seminars on this matter. This has benefited the country a lot and ledto the acquisition of knowledge on how to tackle the data requirements for a poverty reductionprogramme.

ETHIOPIA

The Ethiopian government has learnt that it is not wise to carry out poverty assessments annually.This was because the changes in poverty cannot be entirely proven to be indicative of the level ofimprovement or by chance arising from samples or techniques used, etc.

Through co-operation and collaborative efforts, statistical priorities could be identified, gapsidentified, and duplication avoided. It was further noted that data from the decentralisedstatistical office complement the national surveys especially in agricultural and livestock sector.

UGANDA

In Uganda, poverty monitoring is undertaken to investigate levels, changes and causes of poverty,including the success or failure of public actions intended to reduce poverty, such as the actionsof the Poverty Eradication Plan (PEAP). Since not all changes in poverty in either direction are aresult of public actions, poverty monitoring also investigates all the main factors that causechanges in poverty.

It was mentioned that because of the complexity of the phenomenon of poverty, many indicatorshave to be monitored. The monitoring process in Uganda was said to focus on:

a) Inputs- analysing whether levels of funding to poverty reduction programmes.

b) Outputs- reviewing results achieved from inputs.

c) Outcomes- these show the immediate effects on income levels, access and utilization of public

services, and levels of empowerment of the population from various interventions.

Poverty monitoring indicators in Uganda are listed under each of the four main goals of PEAP asfollows:

Economic growth and structural transformation• Gross domestic product and real sectoral growth rates;• Domestic revenue performance;


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• Investment levels;• Sustainability of external debt;

• Levels of funding for poverty focused programmes.

Good governance and security• Corruption tendencies in public offices and measures being taken to contain them;• The population’s experiences of insecurity ranging from petty thefts to insurgency;• The administration of justice as established from the size of the remand population, as

well as the case backlog in courts;• Levels of empowerment of the population gauged by levels of their awareness of their

rights and entitlements

Increased ability of the poor to raise their incomes• Changes in incidence of poverty as measured using the consumption - expenditure based

on poverty lines;• Sources of incomes for households;• Labour productivity with specific reference to agricultural production;• Access to and utilization of productive assets; extension services, markets and

infrastructure;• Levels of compliance to the environmental standards of the population.

Enhances quality of life• Life expectancy in years;• Infant mortality rates;• Maternal mortality rates;• Nutritional status of children; and• Literacy rates.

It was noted that use of a multitude of poverty monitoring indicators could create a problemwhere some indicators may move in opposite directions. The challenge faced was to integrate allthe indicators into one index so that clear decisions and conclusions can be drawn on povertytrends.

4.3.2 Observations/Discussions During the discussions, the following issues were raised:

• Statistical data collections were considered expensive in terms of funds, machinery,equipment and personnel. It was necessary to determine the frequency of surveys andtheir scope to make the surveys cost-effective.

• A task force of the major key players in poverty programmes should be put in place tobe responsible for such things as:

- planning and policy


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- inventories of databases - assessment of data completeness

- priority setting.

• It was important to identify government development strategies.

• Respondents used in sample surveys need to change to avoid respondents fatigue,although it was acknowledged that fresh listing of sampling units for every survey wascostly.

• Proper analytical methods need to be applied in order to produce results that the policymakers can use to handle poverty eradication programmes.

• PRSP presents the best framework in which to develop national statistics. There was needfor countries in the workshop to learn from Uganda on how the process has been handled.

• Capacity building was considered to be central to any meaningful effort to developnational statistics.

• Administrative records and registers at local levels should be encouraged and harmonisedto form a basis for the derivation of the indicators that can be used at those levels. Theinformation from these records and registers should supplement data from statisticalprogrammes like censuses and surveys that are conducted by the national statisticaloffices.

• Labour statistics in Africa had a lot of gaps in part due to the informal sector, which is animportant sector in the nations’ economies but which is also complicated to quantify.There is need for definitions that fit into the African reality as the first step in thedevelopment of labour statistics. The issues of child labour that forms a sizeable part ofthe labour force was a problem that needed to be quantified.

• The need for the national statistical office to co-ordinate statistical production throughstandardised procedures, harmonised definitions and classification was emphasized. Thedecentralised structure of the national statistical system in which the national statisticaloffice plays a coordinating role was seen as the best way forward in developing nationalstatistics.

4.4 Developing Partnerships - Country Experiences

4.4.1 Presentations

TANZANIA


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Sector-wide Approach (SWAP) in Tanzania was reported to be based on partnership at countryand sub-regional level. It was reported that prior to the development of partnerships, eachinstitution used to collect its own data and this led to duplication of effort. Currently, althougheach line ministry collects data to meet its own requirements, the data collected by theseinstitutions is co-ordinated by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which maintains setstandards. Tanzania also being a member of the SADC, shares her data with other countries inthe sub-region. It was further reported that there was an initiative to it extend data sharing to EastAfrica. It was also reported that there was a need to transform the NBS into a semi-autonomousbody.

KENYA

It was reported that in Kenya, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) collects the main statisticaldata while each line ministry collects its own data. The CBS co-ordinates data collection in allthe ministries by posting an officer to each one of them. Non governmental Organizations anddonors also conduct independent surveys, which are focused on limited areas such as:

� UNFPA - Population

� IMF - Balance of payments

� WB - Poverty Monitoring

It was mentioned that statistical activities that are not a priority to donors tend to be under-funded. As an example, it was mentioned that the Annual Statistical Abstract is not regularlyproduced and the annual manpower and housing surveys have become irregular.

ETHIOPIA

It was reported that in order to minimise duplication of effort in Ethiopia, efforts have been madeto harmonize all statistical programmes. It was noted that the donors were normally onlyinterested in some aspects of statistics. There was, therefore, a need to harmonize the end resultand therefore guidelines needed to be drawn to answer such questions as who should producedata, what data should be produced, etc. It was noted that comparison of data produced bydifferent institutions was always very difficult. The Central Bureau of Statistics was responsiblefor the production of official statistics.

Ethiopia was concerned about the relationships between the Addis Ababa Plan of Action and thePARIS21 initiative and the legal framework of PARIS21?

RWANDA

It was reported that in Rwanda, the National Department of Statistics develops indicators andeach ministry collects it own data, which is then compiled by the National Department of


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Statistics (NDFS. The major constraint to the work of NDFS was her lack of capacity to processand analyze the data. As a result, it was reported that many data sets on poverty had not been

analyzed. The country expected to produce her own manpower and it was hoped that assistancefrom regional partners would be required.

UGANDA

It was reported that in Uganda, co-ordination was seen as one of the main strategies fordeveloping the national statistical systems. In particular, there were co-ordination arrangementsamong data producers, between data producers and users, between data producers and researchand training organizations and among programmes. It was also reported that donor assistance waswell co-ordinated. There were moves to build ample capacity for statistical production not onlyat national level but also at local levels. Uganda was reported to be in a position to shareexperiences and assist other countries in the region in their statistical development.

ERITREA

It was reported that in Eritrea, statistical development is in its infancy. As a result of this and dueto the serious resource constraints, there was a large information gap as opposed to the increasingdemand for statistics. The Statistics Office had been put in place only in 1993 and it was now inthe process of obtaining the necessary equipment and manpower. It was mentioned that there wasco-operation between the Statistics Office and international organizations like USAID (whichfunds Demographic Health Surveys), Norway (which funds Household Budget Surveys andNational Accounts) and Canada (which has funded the Population Census). In spite of the plansto introduce balanced development of the economy, so far no data had been collected on theagricultural sector.

BURUNDI

In Burundi lack of financial and human resources was seen as an impediment to the statisticalprocess. Users were not well informed about the usefulness of statistics and there was therefore aneed for sensitization of data users. There was also a need to enhance the National Bureau ofStatistics with capacity to produce statistics. It was mentioned that there was a degree ofautonomy of the Statistic Office. However, due to low salaries, there was a high staff turnover.

4.4.2 Observations/Discussions

In ensuing discussions, the following issues were raised:

• There was a need for developing partnerships between data users and producers. There wasalso a need to develop partnerships among data producers, and between data producers and


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research/training organizations. These partnerships would lead to the strengthening of thenational statistical system.

• It was important that each country develops its own statistical programmes that are consistentwith the overall national development strategy.

• Co-ordination of donor assistance is crucial for avoiding duplication of effort.

• There is a need for co-operation among countries in the sub-region in statistical development.This can facilitate sharing of experiences, expertise and resources.

• It was mentioned that making statistical offices autonomous in itself will not lead toimprovement in national statistics. The factors of good leadership of the national statisticaloffice and attractive incentives for staff were identified as factors that will make acontribution to improving national statistics.


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Section 5

Conclusions, Recommendations and Action Points for Follow-up

This section presents the main conclusions, recommendations and action points for follow-up asidentified by the workshop. 5.1 Conclusions

There was need to boost statistical capacities in the countries through promoting a culture forsetting and monitoring policy based on evidence and by fostering well-managed nationalstatistical systems that use resources effectively. This could be achieved by creating networks;developing partnerships between governments, civil society and donors; and sharing ideas,knowledge and experiences at regional and sub-regional levels. Holding regional and countryworkshops will help in this regard.

There was also a need for involvement in the poverty reduction strategy process, making betteruse of existing data (data mining), producing Sequenced Information Strategy (SIS) to supportpriority information needs of government and to form partnerships with donors to build capacityin support of the SIS. In this context, there is need for better definition of concepts (e.g.employment) to fit the African reality and use of appropriate methods. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) is a useful instrument for a country’s relationswith the donor community and as a basis for concessional lending to countries as well as debtrelief under the HIPC Initiative. Such a PRSP should, inter alia, be country-owned and itsdevelopment should be carried out in a consultative and participatory manner; should bepremised on a proper understanding of the nature and determinants of poverty and the linksbetween public actions and poverty outcomes; should have its beneficiaries properly determined;and should see economic growth as one of the pre-requisites for poverty reduction.

Both quantitative and qualitative data are needed to assess the process of implementation,monitoring and updating of the PRSP. Such data should capture intra-household relations, shouldbe collected in a timely manner and should be disaggregated to sub-national levels. Data fromsurveys should be collected in a cost-effective manner and should be supplemented by secondarydata from other sectors. Time series should be built to gauge past performance and a nationaldatabase should be established. There is also a need to build inter-disciplinary national capacityfor poverty and related analysis.

The role of the National Statistical Office (NSO) was pivotal in the production of statisticsrequired for policy formulation and monitoring. The NSO should enjoy a degree of autonomyand have attractive terms and conditions of service. Official statistics should be seen as a publicgood to be made readily available to users. It was essential to co-ordinate data producers and to


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promote "best practices", co-ordinate data producers and users and sensitise decision-makersabout the need to make resources available for data collection.

Poverty monitoring should investigate levels, changes and causes of poverty. It should determinewhether development policies and programmes are actually reducing poverty, seek consensus onappropriate indicators of poverty and monitor both the means and ends in poverty reduction,examine the causal relations between the indicators at different levels, build sustainable long-term national statistical capacity based on existing systems and processes, collect data on varioussocio-economic groups and co-ordinate the national statistical system to ensure that dataproduced by different institutions are consistent with data from household surveys.

There was need to forge partnerships for reducing poverty. Partnerships and rules of engagementshould be well defined, ingredients of and structural factors that undermine successfulpartnerships should also be taken into account. Initiatives like PARIS21 and the Addis AbabaPlan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa reinforce partnership principles, as docomprehensive approaches to development.

5.2 Recommendations On the basis of the above conclusions, the following recommendations were made:

Recommendation 1: Mobilisation of resources at all levels - international, national, and/orlower levels towards training and capacity building should be undertaken. Countries were urgedto be innovative in this respect.

Recommendation 2: Partnership at country level between producers and users of statisticsshould be developed and/or enhanced. There is a need for regional and sub-regional co-operationof countries to share experience and where possible resources.

Recommendation 3: It was recommended that extensive training needs assessment beundertaken in each country. This will be used to identify on-job training, regional workshops andfellowship opportunities. Training areas, which may require priority attention, include datacompilation, processing, analysis and dissemination.

Recommendation 4: Use of best "statistical practices" should be adopted in each country. TheUganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) was urged to spearhead this area by producing a well-documented case study to act as a model which could be disseminated through the UBOS Website as reference and learning material for partner states.

Recommendation 5: Stakeholders’ workshops should be held at national level for governmentofficials, policy makers, civil society (including the mass media) and the general data users foradvocacy.

Recommendation 6: Countries should prepare action plans for development of well manageddatabases that are easily accessible to the policy makers and other data users.


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Recommendation 7: There should be co-ordination of donor assistance for statisticaldevelopment to ensure that international resources have greater and lasting impact. Such

resources could be channelled through the national statistical offices to the priority areas ofattention.

Recommendation 8: There was need to ensure that national statistical offices are entrusted withgood leadership and highly skilled professionals.

Recommendation 9: Countries should improve staff remuneration, motivation and facilitationas key instruments in developing a reliable and consistent national statistical system.

5.3 Action Points for Follow-up The workshop agreed on the following action points:

• Each country should as a matter of urgency, form a National Co-ordination Committeefrom where two members (one representing the producers and the other users) would benominated to the Sub-regional Steering Committee.

• Both committees were to be in place by February 2001. Guidelines for co-ordinationshould be worked out by the Secretariat.

• The Sub-regional Steering Committee to be set up should develop the objectives for thenext meeting, taking into consideration all recommendations made at this workshop.

• Countries in the sub-region should constitute a PARIS21 East Africa Chapter.• The Uganda Bureau of Statistics was selected as the Secretariat for the PARIS21 East

Africa Chapter.


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Annex I

PARIS21 Workshop Programme (15TH - 16TH NOVEMBER, 2000)

THEME: DEVELOPING PARTNERS IN SUPPORT OF POVERTY MONITORING

STRATEGIES AND OTHER PRIORITY POLICY AREAS

TIME PAPER PRESENTED PRESENTER

WEDNESDAY 15TH NOVEMBER 2000MORNING SESSION: CHAIRMAN - MR. J.B. MALE - MUKASA - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - UBOS

8.30 a.m.-9.00 a.m. Registration Uganda Bureau of Statistics9.00 a.m.-9.15 a.m. Welcome and Scene Setting PARIS21 Secretariat -

Senior Consultant9.15 a.m.-9.30 a.m. What is PARIS21? PARIS21 Secretariat9.30 a.m-10.00 a.m. Why Statistics are required for policy making?

• Users view of what is needed for policydevelopment (DED)

Director General HealthServices - Uganda (Prof.F.G. Omaswa), plus oneother

10.00 a.m.-11.00 a.m. • Forging Partnerships for reducing Poverty(Tony Williams)

• Data Demand of PRSPs

Round Table presentationsfor countries currentlydeveloping PRSPs

11.00 a.m.-11.30 a.m. TEA BREAK

MID-MORNING SESSION: CHAIRMAN - MR. ARTHUR MWAKAPUGI - DIRECTOR OF MACROECONOMIC STATISTICS - TANZANIA

11.30 a.m.-12.00noon

What Statistics are used for Development of andsupport to policies?

Uganda Bureau of Statistics(Mr. James W. Mubiru)

12.00 p.m.-1.00 p.m. Plenary Discussions1.00 p.m.-2.00 p.m. LUNCH BREAK

AFTERNOON SESSION: - CHAIRPERSON - MS. SAMIA ZEKARIA - DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER -CSA - ETHIOPIA

2.00 p.m. - 3.00 p.m. Poverty Monitoring - Country Experiences Presentations from countryrepresentatives on PovertyMonitoring in theirrespective countries (Each15 mins)

3.00 p.m.-4.00 p.m. CWIQ Surveys: Community CWIQs Tim Merchant4.00 p.m.-4.30 p.m. TEA BREAK

EVENING SESSION: CHAIRPERSON – DR. O.O. AJAAYI

4.30 p.m.-5.00 p.m. Plenary Discussions


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THURSDAY 16TH NOVEMBERMORNING SESSION: CHAIRMAN - MR. J. OGAI – MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND PLANNING, KENYA

9.00 a.m. - 10.00 a.m. Developing Partnerships -How and why weshould develop partnerships for information(DAC Partnership principles, Partnerships inother sectors - How they have worked [SWAPS])

Presentations from countryrepresentatives (Each 15mins)

10.00 a.m.-11.00 a.m. Country Group Discussions on what each country wants from PARIS2111.00 a.m.-11.30 a.m. TEA BREAK

MORNING SESSION: CHAIRMAN - MR. H. MBARUKU - NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS -TANZANIA

11.30 a.m.-12.30 p.m. Short Presentations12.30 p.m.-1.00 p.m. Plenary Discussions1.00 p.m.-2.00 p.m. LUNCH BREAK

AFTERNOON SESSION: CHAIRMAN - DR. AJAAYI - PARIS21

2.00 p.m.-3.00 p.m. Support for Developing Information Strategiesand Capabilities - Donors opportunity toexplain their current activities in the region,future possibilities, and how they woulddevelop PARIS21 Partnerships with countries.

Donors

3.00 p.m.-4.00 p.m. Plenary Discussions: Developing the PARIS21Partnership

4.00 p.m.-4.30 p.m. TEA BREAK

EVENING SESSION: CHAIRMAN - MR. J.B. MALE - MUKASA - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - UBOS

4.30 p.m.-5.00 p.m. Round-up, Next Steps and Objectives of NextMeeting

PARIS21 Secretariat

5.00 p.m.-6.00 p.m. Closing Session Minister of State forFinance - In charge ofPlanning and Investment

6.00 p.m.-7.00 p.m. Cocktail Plenary

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Annex III

Opening Speech by Hon. Gerald Sendaula, Minister ofFinance, Planning and Economic Development

Mr. Chairman,Your Excellencies, the Ambassadors and High Commissioners,

Your Excellencies the Representatives of all Donor Agencies,

Honourable Ministers and Members of Parliament,

Members of the PARIS21 Secretariat,

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Uganda, and on my own behalf, I wish towarmly welcome you all and to thank you for coming to participate in this regional workshop inUganda. I am reliably informed that this workshop is the first of its kind in Africa since thelaunching of the PARIS21 initiative one year ago this week and I believe the choice of the venuewas not by coincidence but by design. Your participation is a clear demonstration of the wish toforge a true and coherent partnership between our governments and our development partners insupport of evidence-based policy making.

This is our opportunity in Eastern Africa and the Horn of Africa to guide the development of thepartnership in our part of the world.

It is known that a number of Development Assistance Countries (DAC) and some internationalorganizations founded the PARIS21 Consortium in November 1999, aiming to boost statisticalcapabilities particularly in poor developing countries.

The June 2000 PARIS21 Consortium meeting that took place in Paris, France agreed thatregional workshops would be conducted to take forward the work of the Consortium. I gladlynoted that a partnership of donors and a group of East and Central African countries who arerepresented here today are committed to developing ways of building statistical capacity insupport of evidence based policy making. On the part of governments, strategies will have to bedeveloped whereby resources are made available to data producers to collect priority informationwhich will then be disseminated in a form useable to the policy makers, programmeimplementers and other users of statistics. Uganda has provided a legal framework under theUganda Bureau of Statistics Act, 1998 for the development and maintenance of a NationalStatistical System to ensure collection, analysis and publication of integrated relevant, reliableand timely statistical information for informing policy and for the planning process. I am glad toreport that a Bureau has been established which, in addition to statistical production functionsalso coordinates, monitors and supervises the National Statistical System.

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I am aware that PARIS21 is advocating for a country owned information strategy which seeks tobuild on existing capacity and around which donor support would be coordinated.

There is no doubt that these regional group meetings will enable country programmes to beestablished and grow. This workshop in particular is offering an opportunity for country datausers to express their needs, and for data producers to discuss with the users about what isavailable and what can be made available. On the other hand, it also provides opportunity fordonors to initiate with the individual countries, plans and modalities to develop strategies forproviding country policy makers with the priority data/information that is required.

Furthermore, I believe such a regional meeting provides a rare opportunity for grouped countrieswith common socio-economic issues to begin develop partnerships between governments, civilsociety and donors at the regional or sub-regional level. Among the many issues we may wish todiscuss are; data series, a common understanding of priorities and needs, common understandingof the information needs of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and Sector WideApproaches (SWAPS) as the key stakeholders for PARIS21 and regional/country requirementsfrom PARIS21.

It is notable Mr. Chairman, that this workshop forms the first step for action within the region.Through sharing of experiences, we should be able to develop initiatives for promoting the use ofstatistics in effective policy making.

I note that the PARIS21 Regional Workshop has been convened during the period when Ugandais celebrating Africa Statistics Day with a full week of activities. The theme for this importantday is “Strengthening Capacities for Measuring and Monitoring Poverty” I also note thatPARIS21 exists to boost statistical capabilities especially in poor and developing countries, andin particular to support the statistical and information requirements of poverty reductionstrategies.

We in Uganda have taken the challenge of poverty eradication with the seriousness it deserves.We are aware that large sections of the population cannot meet their basic requirements of lifedue to poverty. This calls for a firm strategy of eliminating or at least reducing poverty. Ugandahas developed a Poverty Eradication Action Plan [PEAP], which is under implementation. Wehave demonstrated in the development and implementation of PEAP that statistics andinformation are needed for effective development and in the spirit of partnership, we are ready toshare these experiences. For that reason, the Uganda Government has consciously placedstatistics in the Poverty Action Fund (PAF) so that funds required for collecting statistics willcontinue to flow to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics even when there are shortfalls in Governmentrevenues. Statistics is thus a protected sector.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the spirit of partnership we are ready to share our experiences indesigning the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) and in re-engineering the nationalstatistical system so that it can meet data need for monitoring poverty trends.

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I wish to thank the PARIS21 Secretariat for accepting to bring this workshop to the Africa sub-region and choosing Uganda to host it.

I wish you fruitful deliberations during this workshop and, I declare the workshop officially open.

PARIS21 SUB-REGIONAL WORKSHOP HELD AT KAMPALA ...

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