HCM 4002 W5 Assignment Final Project Evaluation
HCM 4002 W5 Assignment Final Project Evaluation
The need to monitor progress towards the Millennium Development Goals has provided an
opportunity for many developing countries in different regions to develop their statistical systems and
produce better information in support of evidence-based policies for development. Nevertheless, as
the period assigned for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals was almost over,
developing nations faced pervasive statistical challenges in monitoring them.
These included persistent
data gaps, insufficient use of the official national data produced by both the national agency in
charge of the national Millennium Development Goal reports, as well as by the international
agencies; and the statistical discrepancies among indicator values produced or compiled by national,
regional and international sources.
These issues are of great concern in the international community,
particularly within the statistical and reporting communities in developing countries. The statistical
commissions and other regional statistical bodies (such as the Statistical Conference of the Americas)
have formally recognized these problems and have urged stakeholders to take immediate action to
find solutions. Key points have included strengthening statistical capacities for data and metadata
production, and improving statistical information exchange among international agencies and
developing countries, as recommended in 2007 by the Statistical Commission (E/CN.3/2007/13).
The entire United Nations system has prioritized these matters, on the premise that there should also
be more transparency in the way that international agencies use imputed data. The Inter-Agency and
Expert Group on Millennium Development Goal Indicators recommended producing detailed
explanations of the difference between global and national monitoring. These included implications
for methods and data presentation, and constructing metadata on population estimates used as
denominators to calculate many Millennium Development Goal indicators.
Expert Group has further recommended involving the regional commissions more extensively in
reviewing the discrepancies between national and international sources, in assisting in the
organization of data and metadata exchanges between national statistical systems and international
agencies, and in improving data-sharing at the international level.
From the regional perspective, responding to the demands of its member countries, the five regional
commissions have taken on an increasingly active role in strengthening statistical capacities in relation
to the Millennium Development Goals in their respective countries and promoting collaborative work
within countries and regions in order to share experiences and learn from each other. The statistical
divisions of the regional commissions have been coordinating efforts to resolve data gaps and
discrepancies between national and international sources. A joint document was presented for
discussion at the Inter-agency and Expert Group Meeting on Millennium Development Goal Indicators.