World Bank Support to Household Survey Programs

1. World Bank Support to Household Survey Programs Misha Belkindas 13 May 2004 ________________________________________ Presented at Forum on African Statistical DEVelopment (FASDEV) that took place 12-13 May 2004 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

2. Three Dimensions of Poverty depth of poverty Geographical distribution Changes over time

3. Tools for Poverty Monitoring • Measuring depth of poverty and determinants • Tools: - A comprehensive household survey (there are various options – Household Budget Survey, LSMS, Integrated Household Survey, etc.) • Participative and qualitative assessments • Monitoring Spatial/regional differences • Poverty maps • Tools: - Population census + Household survey • Monitoring Changes over time • Tools: Administrative data/MIS; Institution-based surveys; household surveys • Monitoring leading indicators (Service Delivery) • Key requirements • Simple to execute • Rapid reporting • Disaggregatable to low levels • Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ)

4. The World Bank and Capacity Building in Household Surveys and Poverty Statistics • Statistical capacity building in household surveys and poverty statistics are an integral part of World Bank’s development assistance for institutional and knowledge development to underpin research and policy work • Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) surveys – a multi-purpose household survey – from 1985-present • Social Dimensions of Adjustment (SDA) – Integrated Household Survey (HIS) and Priority Surveys (PS) – for African countries from late 80s to mid-90s • Core Welfare Indicators Survey (CWIQ) – An off-the-shelf survey package with core and optional questionnaire modules for service indicator • MECOVI Program as an coordinated approach to build regional and country capacity for household surveys of living conditions ___________________________________________________ MECOVI is short for “Programa para el Mejoramiento de las Encuestas y la Medición de Condiciones de Vida”, the Spanish translation for the Program for Improvement of the Surveys of Living Conditions (ISLC).

5. A Brief History of the Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) Surveys Originally a research program to determine the feasibility of:

6. Evolution of the Living Standard Measurement Study • Originally a research program to determine feasibility, improve methodology and data • The emphasis was on research • Now, moved to a decentralized model • WB has no central mandate: LSMS surveys are demand driven by countries • WB’s Research Group provides technical / analytical support on LSMS activities to countries’ statistical offices • Funding: Started with WB Research grants, now largely funded by WB loans, other country resources, donor grants, cooperative agreements

7. Multi-topic household survey to collect data on wide range of factors affecting household and individual welfare Robust money-metric welfare measure Emphasis on quality control and timeliness of data LSMS Surveys LSMS Survey characteristics: LSMS Program goals: • Promoting linkages between users and producers • Promoting open data access • Capacity building for survey technique and policy analysis

8. Albania Armenia Azerbaijan Bolivia BiH Brazil Bulgaria China (part) Cote d’Ivoire Ecuador FRY: Kosovo Gambia Ghana Guatemala Guinea LSMS/IS Surveys 1985-2005 • Guyana • Honduras • India (part) • Jamaica • Kazakhstan • Kenya • Kyrgyz Republic • Madagascar • Mauritania • Malawi • Morocco • Nepal • Nicaragua • Niger • Pakistan • Panama • Papua New Guinea • Paraguay • Peru • Russia • South Africa • Tajikistan • Tanzania • Timor Leste • Tunisia • Turkmenistan • Uganda • Viet Nam

9. Social Dimensions of Adjustment (SDA) • World Bank’s response to international demands for knowledge on the human costs of a decade-long process of adjustments in 1980s • Generous donor support to fund the work program for the Sub-Saharan Africa from late 80s to mid-90s • Innovative approaches with Integrated Household Survey every 4-5 years, and Priority Survey in intervening years – falling short at the execution stage • Lessons learned: • Distance between planning and implementation • Supply-driven process with little country input • Limited absorptive capacity • Scale up problem –> magnitude of the project should have required closer coordination and more technical support to surmount low country capacity • Resources spread too thin across many projects in many countries –> too much money to chase too many talents with problematic quality control • Narrow objectives of filling data gaps than building lasting country capacity –> sustainability was not achieved • Some capacity built and some data gaps filled –> laid a foundation for World Bank’s current technical assistance program for the Africa region

10. The CWIQ is a household survey • It is used to monitor outcomes of development actions, (such as HIPC/PRSPs) …. …..through the use of leading indicators, such as access, use and satisfaction

11. An off-the-shelf survey package Fixed core, flexible modules Simple reporting Quick data entry & validation Short questionnaire Rigorous control of data quality Large sample How does the CWIQ work?

12. MECOVI Program in Latin America • A Coordinated Approach – A Regional Program of Technical Assistance for Capacity Building to Improve Household Surveys to Measure Living Conditions and Poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean • Launched in 1996 jointly by IDB, World Bank and UN-ECLAC • Subsequently supported by other donors: UNDP, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, US, Japan, Soros Foundation, etc. • With a Shared Vision for Change in Doing Business in Household Surveys • A multi-year program instead of a one-shot project with a view to building sustainable capacity • Breaking the vicious circle with intervention at various entry points • Program design built on the profile of existing country capacity and statistical system • Program sponsors offer resources according to respective strengths and comparative advantages • Allocation of generous amount of resources for coordination and supervision of program activities • All to ensure significant improvement of statistical capacity for producing and analyzing household survey and poverty data

13. MECOVI Program: Objectives and Organization • Program Objectives • Improve quality, relevance and timeliness of household survey and poverty data • Promote wide use of the improved data for research and policy analysis • Promote open accessibility to the household survey and poverty data • Improve survey methodologies and poverty analysis • Organization: a clear mechanism for governance, counsel, and inter-institutional coordination • Steering Committee (made up of IDB VP, World Bank LAC VP, UN-ECLAC Executive Secretary) decides and guides on key matters of policy, planning and resource mobilization. • Advisory Board provides input to technical issues • Program Coordinators handle day-to-day operational matters, including program coordination, project development, preparation and implementation, and fielding joint missions to supervise on-going operations

14. MECOVI Program: Results by Component • As of May 2004, a national MECOVI program of technical assistance operation were rolled out in 10 countries: • 12 regional seminars/workshops on survey methodologies & poverty measurement Promotion of good practices in definitions, measurement, data collection and analysis • 11 regional training courses  270 participants from 20 countries • Data Dissemination: LAC regional data bank made up of micro-data sets from 300+ household surveys  key input to country and regional reports

15. MECOVI Program: Some Success Factors • Relatively favorable environments to develop a joint regional initiative  common language and some existing infrastructure • Extensive consultation helps create country stakeholder buy-in and country ownership  NSOs in the driver seats • Institutional commitment of the NSOs creates a virtuous circle of: • Better data  Better publicity  Increased demand  Increased allocation of resources Better data • Fundamental changes in the concept of key deliverables: • Relevant and high-quality data timely available to a wide group of users • Emphasis on building capacity than just perfecting survey instruments alone • Producer-user interaction increases long-term viability of the program –> via constitution of an inter-institutional committee • Promote “Culture of Statistics” and democratization of statistical information –> open data access policy as pre-conditions for participation in MECOVI program

16. Lessons of MECOVI Program for International Cooperation on Statistical Capacity Building • Success of MECOVI exposed weaknesses of other statistical activities  an island of efficiency in a sea of inefficiency • MECOVI-like framework to serve as a platform of international technical cooperation to mobilize resources to scale up joint operation to build statistical capacity  substantial up-front investment needed to set up the structure • A call for scaling up MECOVI mandates to: • Replicate in other regions (SPARC, PADI, etc.) • Formulate and implement a comprehensive strategy to develop statistical capacity (a la Marrakech Plan) • Increase coordination and information sharing with setting up of International Household Network