Statistics to Inform Development Policy: the Role of PARIS21 Presentation by

1. Statistics to Inform Development Policy:the Role of PARIS21 Presentation by Antoine Simonpietri, PARIS21 Secretariat

2. About PARIS21 Partnership in Statistics for development in the 21st Century (PARIS21)’s aims: • Develop a culture of transparent, evidence-based policy making and implementation which serves to improve Government accountability, effectiveness and good governance • Better statistics and statistical analysis available to and used by national and international decision-makers and civil society • ‘Better use of better statistics’ as part of the ‘enabling environment’ for development

3. What Does Evidence-Based Policy-Making Mean? • Evidence-based policy-making means that public policy decisions are informed by careful and rigorous analysis using sound and transparent data. • Evidence-based policy-making may be defined as the use of statistics to : • Achieve issue recognition • Inform programme design and policy choice • Forecast the future • Monitor policy implementation • Evaluate policy impact

4. Why Is Evidence-Based Policy-Making Desirable? In a democracy, it is desirable for two reasons: • To ensure the transparency of policy-making • To enhance the accountability of policy-makers …..and because it is preferable to the alternatives.

5. What are the Alternatives to Evidence-Based Policy-Making? • Power and influence of sectional interests • Corruption • Political ideology • Habit • Arbitrariness • Anecdotal evidence

6. Why the urgency to improve the evidence base of policy-making now? • Increased emphasis on managing for development results: tracking progress toward MDGs and monitoring PRSP targets. • Rapid development of technically sophisticated and data-demanding methods of policy analysis. • Advances in ICT have weakened the control exercised by governments over the production and dissemination of information. • Costs of making faulty policy decisions in poorest countries have increased as a result of changes in the level and allocation of foreign aid.

7. Results & Mutual accountability 4 Ownership (Partner countries) Partners set the agenda 1 Alignment (Donors - Partner) Using partners’ systems Aligning with partners’ agenda 2 Establishing common arrangements Sharing information Harmonisation (Donors - Donors) Simplifying procedures 3 From donorship to ownership Development Results

8. How can strategic planning help? • Addressing data limitations • Prioritising use of resources • Looking across whole NSS • Integrating statistics within policy processes • Robust framework and action plan for statistical capacity building • Catalyst for change to build confidence and break the vicious cycle

9. Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics target for NSDSs to prepare national strategies for the development of statistics (NSDS) for all low-income countries by 2006 ……. ……and to have started to implement them by the following year with a view to producing better statistics for national and international use by the time of the next Millennium review in 2010

10. Vision: Where we want to be Assessment: Action Plans: Where we are now How to get there Launching Implementation: Getting there NSDS design and implementation

11. NSDS Essentials • High-level political support and leadership • Well planned process (“road map”) to NSDS design • Identifying user needs and data gaps and weaknesses • Reviewing existing statistical production and analysis; capacity, legal and institutional framework and coordination arrangements • Agreeing on desired results, building on what already exists and is in progress, e.g., GDDS improvement programmes • Setting priorities and strategies • Change management processes • Engaging and motivating staff

12. Organisational development and management Statistical Capacity Building best practice Participatory development Integrating NSDS into Development Policy Processes NSDS Design and Implementation Value added of NSDS approach

13. DHS MICS ICP NSDS as a country-levelcoherence framework

14. DHS DHS MICS MICS ICP ICP NSDS as a country-levelcoherence framework National Strategy for the Development of Statistics

15. Coverage • Implementation may be incremental, but strategic planning (NSDS) should be as broad as possible for: • Better co-ordination and co-operation • Aligning supply and demand and determine priorities • Building interest in statistics and NSDS • National Statistical System for official statistics • Line ministries as well as NSO • Users (demand side) as well as producers (supply side) • National, sub-national, regional and international

16. Making better statistics a reality • Advocacy for: • better use of better statistics • NSDSs • More coherent donor support • Technical as well as financial assistance • Guidance, documentation • Regional programmes

17. Resources • Resource mobilisation: • Increased levels of funding supporting and complementing national statistical plans • African Development Bank and other regional and international partners • World Bank Trust Fund and STATCAP • Evidence of increased bilateral funding • Technical as well as financial assistance: • Briefing of consultants • Role for more developed NSSs

18. NSDS Documentation NSDS Essentials Making the case Guide to designing an NSDS Guide to implementation (in preparation) Knowledge Base www.paris21.org

19. Regional Programmes • Baseline assessments • Regional workshops • Advocacy at country level • Facilitating technical and financial support • Consolidating partner efforts • Reporting on progress

20. In conclusion • National commitment: • Country-owned NSDS will need high-level government commitment to implement it • Statistical systems don’t exist in a vacuum: • Institutional and organisational development as well as financial realism are key to sustainabilty • Don’t frighten governments: • Plans need to be costed and need to be realistic • Lesson learning: • The NSDS approach must build on what exists and learn from country experiences