Workshop on MDG Monitoring Beirut 7 10 December

Workshop on MDG Monitoring Beirut, 7 -10 December 2009 IAEG work to build statistical capacity in countries and to improve data reporting on MDGs United Nations Statistics Division

IAEG on MDG Indicators ● IAEG was created after the adoption of the Millennium Declaration to translate the commitments of UN Member States into Goals, targets and indicators ● The Inter-Agency and Expert Group (IAEG) on MDG Indicators includes: – Several UN, international and donor agencies, – Various government agencies and national statistical offices.

IAEG on MDG Indicators IAEG is responsible for: ● Compiling data and undertaking analysis to monitor progress towards the MDGs at the global and regional levels; ● Reporting on status of annual progress through printed reports, progress charts, databases, etc. ; ● Reviewing and preparing guidelines on methodologies and technical issues related to the indicators; ● Helping define priorities and strategies to support countries in data collection, analysis and reporting on MDGs.

IAEG on MDG Indicators ● ECOSOC Resolution 2006/6 – Member States called upon the UN system to support the strengthening of national statistical capacity • In response to the lack of data and/or capacity to monitor the MDGs • As a result of concerns about the validity of international agencies’ imputed data, and lack of transparency in their methodology – IAEG to help improve the coverage, transparency, and reporting on all MDG indicators through statistical capacity building

IAEG on MDG Indicators ● To address the concerns raised by the Statistical Commission and the recommendations of the ECOSOC resolution, the IAEG has carried out the following activities: – Adoption of the common platform for data exchange, the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX) – Development of metadata for the global monitoring – Continuous improvement of the content and structure of the metadata and the tools available on the mdgs. un. org website – Workshops bringing together national and international partners – Training on metadata and compilation of indicators – Production of manual for national monitoring ● Agencies also has worked in their specific domain

Work of the IAEG on MDG Indicators ● NSOs are important members of the IAEG, attending meetings and providing inputs on the relevance of the IAEG’s work to country needs. The IAEG has: – Facilitated the coordination of technical assistance activities on statistical building – Reviewed countries' needs and works towards strengthening official statistics for the production of MDG indicators – Recommended: • The creation and use of national MDG databases that compile all MDG data • Improving coordination within NSS and between countries and international agencies • Improving data dissemination and reporting at country level • The adoption by international agencies and countries of a common platform for Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX) to facilitate reporting and improve transparency – Developed a Data Structure Definition for SDMX that allows for data exchanges at different levels of aggregation

Work of the IAEG on MDG Indicators ● New version of the Handbook on MDG indicators – Tailored to country needs, focuses on methods to produce the MDG indicators at the national level, based on existing national sources. – Clarify the differences between methods used by International agencies and those recommended to national experts. – Includes guidelines on how to disaggregate data, links to relevant publications and websites, and information on the new MDG indicators.

Work of the UN Statistics Division ● Regional workshops on MDG Monitoring – Attended by representatives of NSS and International Agencies – Address data discrepancies (national-international), identifying the causes and contributing to a better understanding, by countries, of the methods used at the international level – Special sessions on sub-national monitoring, administrative data, national databases and coordination of NSS.

Work of the UN Statistics Division ● Implementation of SDMX – EGM on SDMX took place in October 2009 to explore the feasibility and identify resources needed by countries to implement SDMX - involving experts from NSOs and International agencies – EGM recommended that efforts are addressed to use SDMX at the country level – EGM requested to the IAEG and UNSD: • Facilitation of training and dissemination of guidelines • Implementation of projects in NSOs to define objectives, resources, time frame, staff and experts required.