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News, Events, and Key Issues Forthcoming
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Competition for Young Survey Statisticians from Developing and Transition Countries In celebration of its 25th anniversary, the International Association of Survey Statisticians (IASS) has established the Cochran-Hansen Prize to be awarded to the best paper on survey research method submitted by a young statistician from a Developing or Transition Country. The paper will be presented at the 53rd Session of the International Statistical Institute, to be held in Seoul, Korea, from August 22-29, 2001. Participation in the competition for the Cochran-Hansen Prize is open to nationals of Developing or Transition Countries who are living in such countries and who are born in 1969 or later. Winners of an ISI Jan Tinbergen Award are not eligible for the competition. Papers submitted must be unpublished original works. They may include materials from the participants’ university thesis. They should be in either English or French. The papers should be submitted to the IASS Secretariat at the address below, to arrive by November 30, 2000. Each submission should be accompanied by a cover letter that gives the participant’s year of birth, nationality, and country of residence. The papers submitted will be examined by the Cochran-Hansen Prize Committee. The decision of the Committee is final. The author of the winning paper will received the Cochran-Hansen Prize in the form of books and journal subscriptions to the value of about 500 Euros and will be invited to present the paper at the Seoul Session of the ISI with all expenses paid (i.e., round trip airfare between place of residence and Seoul and a lump sum to cover living expenses). For more information: Madame Claude Olivier address CEFIL-INSEE telephone fax e-mail * In special circumstances, consideration will be given to applicants born before this date, where the applicants have had a maximum of 5 years of professional experience working in statistics. Enquiries in relation to this should be sent to: Susan Linacre
DBSA Workshop on M & E in Africa The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is organizing a Regional Workshop and Seminar on Monitoring and Evaluation Capacity Development in Africa to be held in Midrand (nr. Pretoria), 25-29 September 2000. For more details, visit the DBSA site.
Zambia Priority Survey and LSMS Data soon to be available on CD-ROM The Republic of Zambia is currently producing two new Survey Data Analysis Packages on CD-ROM. The first one will include the data and documentation for the 1991 and 1993 Priority Surveys. The second CD will cover the 1996 and 1998 Living Conditions Monitoring Surveys. These products will be disseminated by the Zambia Central Statistical Office and are expected to be available during the summer of 2000. For
more information on survey and census data archiving and SDAPs, contact:
Two new countries to carry out a CWIQ pilot survey are Mali and Senegal. Both countries are planning to administer the Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire during the first round of a larger multi-round household budget survey. The combining of the CWIQ with a household budget survey is a new experiment. It is intended that the CWIQ will serve as a source of rapid information on key social indicators and on service delivery indicators, whilst the larger follow-up survey will provide the money-metric measures needed to signal whether the numbers in poverty are increasing or decreasing. Because the two surveys are carried out on the same sample of households, it will be possible at the end to combine the results of the two surveys so as to cross-tabulate the CWIQ indicators by expenditure quintile. In both Mali and Senegal, it is expected that the CWIQ surveys will be launched around November 2000. Mozambique, which successfully carried out a CWIQ pilot earlier this year, is now preparing to launch its first national CWIQ in October. The CWIQ will serve as one of the core sources of information for monitoring the implementation of the Mozambique Poverty Reduction Strategy (Plano de Accao para Reducao da Pobreza Absoluta). This will be the first CWIQ to be conducted in Portuguese. Following the successful pilot CWIQ survey in Lagos State in July 1999, a second CWIQ survey pilot of Benoue State will be undertaken in the coming months by the Federal Office of Statistics in Nigeria. A national CWIQ survey in Nigeria is planned for next year (2001). It has been agreed to conduct a national CWIQ survey in Tanzania around May 2001, using the same sample of households as is used in the National Household Budget Survey. This follows a pilot of the CWIQ survey which was carried out in October/November 1999.
CWIQ Handbook and CD-ROM available Review copies of the English version of the Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ) Handbook and companion CD-ROM are now available in limited numbers. The Handbook documents all aspects of CWIQ surveys. It is intended for national statistics offices and other agencies involved in implementing CWIQ surveys. The CD-ROM offers interactive access to the Handbook and other survey and system documentation. It also provides all the documents, programs and databases needed to do a generic CWIQ survey. The Handbook and CD-ROM are available to qualified organizations and individuals. To obtain further information, write by e-mail to CWIQ@worldbank.org or by regular mail to CWIQ
- J5-232
Jan Tinbergen Awards 2001: Competition for Young Female Statisticians from Developing Countries The International Statistical Institute will be holding its tenth Competition among young statisticians from developing countries who are invited to submit a paper on any topic within the broad field of statistics, for possible presentation at the 53rd Session of the ISI to be held in Seoul, Korea, in August of 2001. As a special one-time only feature of the 2001 competition, participation will be restricted to FEMALE nationals of developing countries (excluding nationals from transition countries), who were born in 1969 or later. Papers submitted must be unpublished, original works, which may include material from participants' university theses. The papers submitted will be examined by an International Jury of distinguished statisticians who will select the three best papers presented in the competition. Their decision will be final. The authors of the winning papers will receive the Jan Tinbergen Award in the amount of 5,000 Dutch Guilders and be invited to present their papers at the Seoul Session of ISI, with all expenses paid (i.e. round trip airline ticket from her place of residence to Seoul plus a lump sum to cover living expenses). Manuscripts for the Competition should be submitted to the ISI Permanent Office not later than January 1, 2001. The rules governing the preparation of papers, application forms and full details are available upon request from the ISI Permanent Office. Contact details are as follows: Director
National CWIQ Survey to be undertaken in Mozambique A pilot of the CWIQ survey was carried out in March/April this year by the Instituto Nacional de Estatistica, the Mozambique national statistics office. The pilot survey covered approximately 1,000 households. The objective of the survey was to demonstrate the CWIQ approach and to assess its appropriateness as an instrument for monitoring the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) which is currently under preparation. For
more information, visit the CWIQ site.
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Côte d'Ivoire LSMS Data Newly Released to Public In April 2000, the Côte d'Ivoire authorities released the 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1989 LSMS data sets for public dissemination through the internet. Scroll down to Côte d'Ivoire on the World Bank LSMS InformationTable.
Addis Ababa Plan of Action to be Evaluated In May 1990, a regional strategy for redressing the declining state of national statistical systems was adopted by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Conference of Ministers responsible for economic development and planning. The strategy, subsequently entitled the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s, aimed to provide a comprehensive framework for the development of statistics in Africa in the 1990s. It called for a concerted effort by all concerned with statistical development, aimed at improving institutional capacity to generate high quality and timely statistics. The strategy called for a series of actions to be taken at national level, as well as actions to be taken by sub-regional and regional bodies and, at the global level, by bilateral, multilateral and other organizations. To facilitate the implementation of the Plan, the Coordinating Committee on African Statistical Development (CASD) was established in March 1992. The CASD was conceived as an interagency group, comprising a representative group of directors of African statistical offices, regional training centers, and African and non-African bilateral and multilateral agencies. The reference timeframe for the Addis Ababa Plan of Action ended in 1999. During the course of the CASD's ninth meeting held June 24-25, 1999 in Addis Ababa, a Task Force was established to initiate a full and independent evaluation of what has been achieved under the Plan and of the role of the CASD in facilitating its implementation. The evaluation is being coupled with an assessment of the current challenges and issues facing the African statistical system, the relevance of the plan for the next decade, and with the preparation of a set of proposals for re-orientating statistical development efforts for the beginning of the 21st century. The Task Force and consultants selected within Africa to undertake the evaluation met in Addis Ababa in March 2000. At that meeting the terms of reference for the evaluation were agreed, and the following countries were selected for case studies: Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda (providing a balance of sub-regional and language representation). It was also decided that additional consultations should take place with the following regional organizations: ADB, AFRISTAT, EAC (in Arusha), ECOWAS, ENSEA, ISEA, and SADCC. The work was to be carried out during the period March-July 2000. Another meeting of the Task Force and consultants will be held once a draft report on the case study findings and results of the consultations has been prepared. The report will be finalized following that meeting. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa is providing the secretariat for the Task Force. For more information, contact Dickson Mzumara, Economic Commission for Africa, P. O. Box 3001, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Fax: 251-1-51-05-12 e-mail: mzumara@un.org.
Africa Live Database - Second Generation Analytical Tools Under Development A second generation Live Database (LDB) system is under development that will serve not only World Bank regional departments but national statistical offices and multilateral institutions. The LDB is designed to assist users to monitor economic and social developments in Africa through various analytical tools. The current system consists of a database with three distinct user-friendly tools to access the data. The system under development is an attempt to respond to new user demands at both the World Bank and other African institutions where the LDB has been installed. These include high frequency data, multiple source and version for the same indicator, aggregation routines calculated inside the database, more powerful query, updating and table generating tools. All tools will be accessible via the Web. For more information, please contact Ronnie Hammad.
PARIS 21 - PARtnerships In Statistics for Development in the 21st Century A ground breaking initiative was launched on 18-19 November 1999 which brought together policy makers and statisticians from donor organisations and partner countries. The initiative aims to help bridge the gaps in statistical capacity which are affecting the ability to formulate effective policy in developing countries. See
results of the meeting. In the words of a participant at the launch meeting "Statistics are the eyes of the policy maker". In a world of infinite needs and finite resources Governments and Donors need to direct resources with the greatest effectiveness towards tackling the big development issues. They are asking where each dollar spent will have maximum impact. While it is estimated that a fifth of the World's population live on less than the equivalent of $1 a day, 40% of these poor people live in countries where there is no current poverty information. For two-fifths of the world's children, we do not know the proportion who are attending school (see related charts). Such huge gaps in our knowledge prevent us from making effective policy decisions. We need better data for better policy. As Clare Short said in a keynote speech ''... those who want progress want better data...' For the latest information go to the PARIS 21 initiative Web site.
CWIQ Survey Pilot Completed in Nigeria In July 1999, the Nigerian Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) carried out a pilot of the Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ) survey. The pilot was carried out with funding assistance from the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID). The FOS achieved a quite remarkable turnaround time, in that it was able to carry out the entire survey in Lagos state on a sample of some 1,500 households and complete the entire exercise from start to finish, including the writing of a report containing the core survey results within a period of only 5 weeks. Unlike pilot CWIQs carried out elsewhere, the Nigeria pilot used a probability-based sample which meant that the survey results were statistically valid and could immediately be used for monitoring the outcomes of public expenditures on the living standards of different population groups. For
more information, visit the CWIQ site.
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CWIQ Survey Pilot undertaken in Tanzania A pilot of the Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ) was run in Tanzania from mid-October to mid-November 1999. The objective of the pilot was to determine the suitability of the CWIQ as a service delivery monitoring instrument for providing benchmark and annual progress information on key indicators at an affordable level. The pilot was steered by the Task Force on Poverty and Welfare Indicators set up under the auspices of the Poverty Eradication Unit in the Vice President’s office and was carried out by the Bureau of Statistics in two districts. It was carried out in the context of preparatory information gathering activities before the launch of the Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF). The pilot survey has shown that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has the capability to use this survey instrument to deliver timely information of good quality. The speed of both fieldwork and data processing certainly matched if not exceeded the initial expectations. The reaction of all those involved was generally favorable, indeed many of the enumerators suggested that this exercise had done much to improve their general skills level. A workshop took place on November 26, 1999 to present the findings of the pilot survey. Invitees, who included Tanzanian government departments, development partners and Non-Governmental Organizations, participated in a program which provided an overview of the CWIQ, reported on the experience of the CWIQ pilot, provided some sample output tables, and presented some of the next steps in moving to a sustained national capacity in the use of this methodology. For
more information, visit the CWIQ site.
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Ninth Coordinating Committee for African Statistical Development Meeting (CASD) The 9th meeting of the CASD was held on June 24 - 25, 1999 at the ECA Conference Center in Addis Ababa. The CASD is a regional committee composed of directors of African National Statistical Offices and regional statistical training centers, sub-regional organizations, and bilateral and multilateral agencies. Its primary function is to facilitate and monitor the implementation of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for African Statistical Development in the nineteen nineties. The ECA acts as the secretariat, and this year, the ADB was elected to the chair. Five task forces have been established to promote issues of special concern to the committee. These are: i) connectivity and statistics, ii) monitoring of the Addis Ababa Plan, iii) training in statistics, iv) gender statistics in national accounts, and v) statistical databases and databanks. Reports on each of these topics were presented and discussed at the meeting. The future of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action was also discussed (see separate News item: Addis Ababa Plan of Action to be Evaluated ). For more information about CASD, contact the ECA Secretariat, Development Information Services Division: Ms.
Karima Bounemra Ben-Soltane, Chief
First Committee on Development Information Meeting (CODI) The 1st meeting of CODI was held from June 28th to July 2nd at the ECA Conference Center in Addis Ababa. The CODI has been established by the ECA to replace the old Joint Conference of Planners, Statisticians, Population and Information Specialists. The recommendations and deliberations of the Committee are reported to the ECA's Council of Ministers. The new committee differs from the Joint Conference, in that the three sub-committees now cover the areas of: i) Statistics, ii) Geo-information, and iii) Information and Communications Technology (ICT). For more information about CODI, contact the ECA Secretariat, Development Information Services Division: Ms.
Karima Bounemra Ben-Soltane, Chief
Workshop on Archiving Survey and Census Data on CD-ROM held in Mali, May 1999 A workshop on "Archiving Survey and Census Data and Documentation on CD-ROM" was held in Bamako, Mali, from May 24 to May 28, 1999. It was organized jointly by Afristat and the World Bank Poverty Monitoring Unit, with financial support from Belgium and Luxembourg through Trust Funds. Thirteen participants from ten countries were trained to transfer the data and documentation of a survey in which they had been personally involved to a CD-ROM. Altogether, during the Workshop they produced CD-ROMs for eight household budget surveys (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo), one demographic survey (Côte d'Ivoire) and one agricultural census (Togo). For
more information on survey and census data archiving, contact:
Atelier de formation sur l'archivage de données de recensements et enquêtes sur CD-ROM tenu a Mali, Mai 1999 Un atelier de formation sur l'archivage de données de recensements et enquêtes sur CD-ROM a organisé conjointement par Afristat et la Banque mondiale (Poverty Monitoring Unit), avec l'appui financier des fonds fiduciaires Luxembourgeois et Belge. L'atelier a réuni 13 participants de 10 pays Africains du 24 au 28 mai, 1999. L'objectif principal de l'atelier était de permettre à chacun des participants de transférer sur CD-ROM les données et la documentation d'une enquête au traitement de laquelle il avait participé, selon le modèle "DADE" de l'Unité de Suivi de la Pauvreté. Des CD-ROM ont été produits pour huit enquêtes budget-consommation des ménages (Bénin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Sénégal, Togo), une enquête démographique (Côte d'Ivoire) et un recensement agricole (Togo). Pour
des renseignements supplémentaires veuillez contacter :
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