IDB The World Bank UN-ECLAC MECOVI Program for

IDB The World Bank UN-ECLAC MECOVI Program for Statistical Capacity Building in Latin America: ** Lessons for Developing Capacity Building Programs Elsewhere February 25 -27, 2002 Presented at a regional meeting of PARIS 21 (Partnership of statistics for development in the 21 st century) held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, February 25 -27, 2002. ** MECOVI is short for “mejoramiento de las encuestas de las condiciones de vida”, the Spanish translation for the improvement of the surveys of living conditions (ISLC) project.

What is the MECOVI Program? Improvement of the surveys and measurement of living conditions (ISLC/MECOVI) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) A regional capacity building program sponsored by IDB, World Bank and UN-ECLAC initially (1997); and with participation by more donors: Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, UNDP, etc.

Why the MECOVI Program? Focus on improving the micro-data at household level to inform public policies aimed at reducing poverty Distilling and applying the lessons from past efforts at capacity building (UN programs, LSMS, SDAs, etc. )

Program Objectives Improve quality and relevance of household surveys: questionnaire design, training, quality control, etc. Promote wide utilization of improved data for research and policy work Promote free accessibility of the survey data by the general public

Program Components Country-specific TA programs (Argentina, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru) Regional seminars/workshops, and regional training courses on household surveys and poverty analysis Regional data bank

Methodologies for Improving the Surveys in Country-Specific TA Programs Reduce sampling errors improvement of sample frame and optimal distribution of samples in organization of fieldwork Reduce non-sampling errors improved questionnaire design, data collection, data entry, consistency checks, and data editing Sponsor policy-oriented research that uses the survey data to create feedback to data producers

Methodologies for Improving the Surveys with Regional Activities Regional workshops on survey methodology, poverty analysis, and social indicators expert input and sharing of best practices Regional training courses for producers and users of the survey data focus on hands-on training Regional data bank encourage wide accessibility of the survey data

Key Design Features of the MECOVI Program Common Agreed Framework for Cooperation Responding to the data needs to support policies aimed at reducing poverty and improving social welfare Shared vision that capacity building needs commitments to longer-term efforts by countries and development partners The MECOVI program serving as an operational platform to mobilize donor support to organize technical cooperation for sustainable capacity building

Key Design Features of the MECOVI Program Governance and Coordination Clear mechanism for governance, counsel, and inter-institutional collaboration Steering Committee decides on key matters of policy, planning and resource mobilization Advisory Board advises on technical issues Program Coordinators handle day-to-day operational matters, including coordination, project development and preparation, and implementation

Key Lessons from MECOVI Program Country-Specific TA Programs Program development and project design should be linked to country capacity and the existing needs Active role of the National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and wide consultation with stakeholders create country buy-in Interaction of producers and users of the survey data increases the viability of the program Capacity building and democratization of statistical information take time Close coordination and monitoring create more than the sum total of individual efforts Explicit attention should be paid to exit strategy upon project completion at the program design stage to ensure sustainability

Key Lessons from MECOVI Program Regional MECOVI Activities Regional activities served as: Venues for data producers and users to interact with and learn from each other Forum to promote best practices in statistical capacity building in surveys and poverty analysis Opportunities for statistical staff and policy analysts to receive hands-on training with real country data applied to real world problems (poverty and welfare analysis, labor and other social policies, etc. )

Working with Partners to Support Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) MECOVI-like capacity building program supports the demanding data needs of country-driven PRSPs to monitor poverty and social indicators, and conduct impact evaluation MECOVI-like program provides a useful framework for development partners to collaborate in support of the country-driven PRS A Consortium of “Partnership in statistics for development in the 21 st century (PARIS 21)” provides important support to local statistical capacity building and MECOVI-like regional initiatives

Developing the Caribbean MECOVI Program Finding shared vision and agreed framework for technical cooperation for capacity building among the Caribbean development stakeholders through consultation with Development Partners on Poverty Working Group (DPPWG) from March 2000 Country buy-in was created by organizing a consultation meeting with representatives from policymaking circle of planning and finance as well as statisticians (A Consultation Meeting, Georgetown, Guyana, December 17, 2001) Consideration of local capacity, policy environments, and institutional structure is important in designing a customized regional program for capacity building

Poverty Analysis and Data Initiative (PADI) for East Asia is being developed by the World Bank Institute (WBI) in partnership with local partners Application of innovative methodologies of training of trainers to leverage scarce capacity building resources Need for further inter-agency coordination for sustainable program development and fund-raising