Regional Technical Workshop on Measuring Human Development
The Human Development Report Office (HDRO) in partnership with the Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA) collaborated on a statistical capacity building initiative to support Human Development Report (HDR) teams and partners on human development measurement issues - through a Regional Technical Workshop on Measuring Human Development.
The first of two regional workshops in Africa was held at the Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi on 24-26 September, 2007. The workshop followed the publication of a Statistical Primer on HD Measurement which was a key reference during this workshop.
- Workshop Report [118 KB]
- List of participants [28 KB]
Overview
Since the first HDR was produced in Bangladesh in 1992, over 600 sub-national, national and regional HDRs have been produced in more than 140 countries or regions. HDRs are a unique, nationally owned product, written by national experts. The HDRs often contain data not previously published. They help meet the demand for collection, analysis and dissemination of statistical data needed to monitor the Millennium Development Goals and other human development objectives.
Evidence based on discussions with HDR teams in Sub-Saharan Africa indicate in particular a need for support on human development measurement issues, focusing on: (i) increased use of disaggregated data to foster evidence based, people-centred planning, and (ii) enhanced rigour of human development analysis on which policy proposals are based.
In response to this need for increased statistical support, HDRO in collaboration with RBA organized a Regional Technical Workshop on Measuring Human Development in sub-Saharan Africa, which aimed to increase understanding on the use of statistics for human development policy planning.
Scope and Objective
The main objective of the workshop was to contribute to increased quality and impact of HDRs in the region. The idea was to encourage innovative measurement work whilst adhering to statistical standards. Through technical guidance, substantive exchanges and the sharing of experiences the workshop sought to develop the competencies to promote and advocate for human development policies based on reliable data. The scope of the workshop was to build on the outcome of the 2005 regional HDR workshop held in Zambia, and to delve deeper into the issues of human development measurement.
The Regional Technical Workshop on Measuring Human Development drew directly on the contents of the Primer on Measuring HD. The Primer follows the lines of the HDR Toolkit, providing guidelines, basic statistical principles, country examples and concrete tools. The Regional Technical Workshop addressed issues related to the human development composite indices, use of statistics and indicators, methodological and data challenges, and ultimately to contribute to the ongoing evolution of human development indicators to better capture country-specific situations.
The Regional Technical Workshop aimed to:
- promote adherence to a set of minimum standards and guidelines for the use of statistics in HDRs;
- propose solutions to existing methodological and data challenges;
- discuss the evolution, use and limitations of the four global HDR indices (the HDI, HPI-1 and HPI-2, GDI and GEM) as well as other indices to better capture country-specific situations;
- identify how to better link data with the policy recommendations outlined in the reports
- share strategies on the effective use of HD data for outreach and advocacy purposes; and
- encourage new approaches and methodologies for measuring HD by sharing innovative practices drawing on research and experiences of HDRs and the wider statistical community.
Target Audience
This initiative was a face-to-face community-building initiative for members of the HDRStats-net. A range of stakeholders involved in the preparatory process of the HDR (not limited to statisticians) were invited to present the experience in their countries, and in particular related to solutions used to address unique data challenges. In support of UNDP's knowledge networking objectives, to solidify our global community of HDRStats-net members, and to ensure cross-regional sharing of experiences, participants from other regions were also invited.
This workshop was intended to be the first of a series of two workshops targeting countries seeking statistical support in the region. Given the need to target a select number of countries in order to make allowance for a variety of stakeholders to attend the workshop from each country, this first meeting involved about 20 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa. Given that the second workshop will include francophone countries, HDRO in collaboration with RBA translated the Primer into French prior to this second meeting.
The workshop brought together approximately 60 representatives from these countries, including:
- UNDP HDR focal points
- HDR team statisticians and social scientists
- Government officials from National Statistics Offices and/or Ministries of Planning (and others)
Focus
The workshop was conducted over a three day period of both plenary and smaller breakout sessions held simultaneously (see Agenda). Discussions focused on the following issues:
- Human Development Measurement: the approach and its measurement
- Statistical Principles in HDRs: challenges and related solutions [simultaneous sessions on addressing data gaps (national vs. international data), data reliability, overlap with MDG work, use of qualitative data, disaggregation]
- Composite Indices: uses and limitations of country specific HD indices [simultaneous sessions on the HDI, HPI, GDI and GEM - reference to the GDI/GEM project will be made]
- Monitoring human development and assessing inequalities (discussions along thematic lines - poverty, environment, gender, governance, etc.)
- Advocating for change (using data in communication work)
Outputs
- Comprehension of the statistical principles and guidelines outlined in the Primer
- Agreement on a set of specific action to be taken related to sharing the knowledge gained with their national counterparts (training of trainers)
- Agreement on the role of HDRStats-net as a collaborative tool to strengthen ongoing HD measurement efforts
- Framework in place to monitor adherence to statistical standards, which will contribute to increased statistical quality of HDRs
- Preparatory work undertaken related to building capacity of a core team, who will organise the next workshop in Africa.
Contact
Mary Ann Mwangi
Human Development Report Office, UNDP
304 East 45th Street, 12th floor
New York, NY 10017, USA
mary.ann.mwangi@undp.org
Fax: (212) 906-5161
