Human Development Report

[Facilitators Note: Please note this discussion is cross-posted on the MDG Network and HDR Statistics Network]

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Dear Colleagues,

The UN Millennium Campaign is developing a suite of games on the MDGs that will be incorporated into the $100 laptop (see enclosed overview proposal document). The $100 laptop is a unique learning tool created specifically for the world's poorest children. The laptop was designed collaboratively by experts from both academia and industry, and will ship roughly 10 million laptops to the developing world this year and moving towards up to 50 million in 2008. (www.laptop.org)

As part of our programme we wish to develop a survey tool on the MDGs which young people (12-16) could use to assess the progress of their communities in achieving the MDGs. We envisage a simple survey with questions relating to the MDGs (in clusters such as poverty, health, education, gender and environment) incorporated into laptops. The young people could use the laptops in their local communities, ask the questions (i.e. "How many schools are there in your village, how many boys vs. girls go to school?"), and record the responses. The laptops could then run computations on the survey answers and provide information on how the community is advancing on the Goals. The results could be automatically stored in the $100 laptops and transmitted back to the UN via a mesh network or when the students have access to the Internet.

We hope this information can be used to raise awareness on the MDGs, and serve as a local advocacy tool to pressure governments to do more on issues such as health care, education, environment, etc. The ideal situation would be to have the survey statistically sound to use the data sets to help the UN Statistical Divisions with their work on assessing the progress towards achievement of the Goals.

Our office has no experience in developing statistical material. Therefore, we are looking for partners to help us with the entire development of the survey questions and statistical computations to make the rough assessments on how far each community is advancing on the MDGs. In terms of concrete questions, we are interested to learn about:

• Examples of existing statistically accurate survey tools on the MDGs that measure the progress of communities in advancing on the Goals and could be adapted for use by young people;
  
• Tips and lessons learned to be taken into consideration when developing/adapting and using such survey tools;
  
• Recommendations of agencies, NGOs, etc. that are best suited to develop such survey tool or conduct the adaptation;

I very much appreciate the assistance as I think this tool could be very valuable in not only our $100 laptop programme, but our entire effort to hold governments accountable to their promises to achieve the MDGs.

Best,

Amil
_____________________________
Amil Husain (amil.husain@undp.org)
Global Youth Coordinator
United Nations Millennium Campaign
304 east 45th street FF 614 New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212 906 6024
Fax: 212 906 6057

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Chers collègues,

La Campagne Objectifs du Millénaire des Nations Unies met au point une série de jeux sur les OMD qui sera incorporée dans un ordinateur portable à 100 dollars (voir document de proposition générale, ci-joint). Lordinateur portable à 100 dollars est un outil dapprentissage unique créé spécifiquement pour les enfants les plus pauvres du monde. Lordinateur portatif a été conçu de manière collaborative avec des experts des mondes universitaire et industriel, et sera expédié à environ 10 millions dexemplaires au monde en développement cette année pour atteindre jusquà 50 millions dexemplaires en 2008 (www.laptop.org)

Dans le cadre de notre programme, nous désirons mettre au point un outil denquête sur les OMD, que les jeunes gens (de 12 à 16 ans) pourraient utiliser en vue dévaluer les progrès réalisés par leurs communautés pour ce qui est de réaliser les OMD. Nous envisageons une simple enquête contenant des questions concernant les OMD (dans des groupes tels que la pauvreté, la santé, léducation, légalité des sexes et lenvironnement) qui serait incorporée dans les ordinateurs portables. Les jeunes gens pourraient utiliser les ordinateurs portables au sein de leurs communautés locales, poser des questions (par exemple « combien décoles existe-t-il dans votre village combien de garçons vont à lécole par rapport aux filles ?) et enregistrer les réponses. Les ordinateurs portables pourraient alors effectuer des calculs concernant les résultats de lenquête et fournir des informations sur la manière dont la communauté progresse sur les Objectifs. Les résultats pourraient être automatiquement enregistrés dans les ordinateurs portables à 100 dollars et retransmis aux Nations Unies par lintermédiaire dun réseau en maille ou lorsque les étudiants se connectent à Internet.

Nous espérons que ces informations peuvent être utilisées en vue de sensibiliser le public aux OMD, et servir doutil de mobilisation local afin de faire pression sur les gouvernements afin quils fassent davantage sur les questions telles que la santé, léducation, lenvironnement, etc.. La situation idéale serait davoir une enquête solidement fondée au niveau statistique, afin de pouvoir utiliser les séries de données pour aider les Divisions statistiques des Nations Unies dans leur travail sur lévaluation des progrès vers la réalisation de ces objectifs.

Nous recherchons des partenaires pour nous aider à élaborer entièrement les questions de cette enquête ainsi que mettre au point les calculs statistiques pour faire des évaluations approximatives sur la manière dont chaque communauté progresse au niveau des OMD. Au niveau des questions concrètes, nous souhaiterions recevoir :

• Des exemples doutils denquêtes statistiquement précis sur les OMD pouvant mesurer les progrès réalisés par les communautés pour ce qui est datteindre les OMD et qui pourraient être adaptés pour être utilisés par les jeunes gens;
• Des conseils et des enseignements tirés devant être pris en considération lorsque lon élabore/adapte ou utilise de tels outils denquêtes;
• Des recommandations des agences, des ONG etc. les plus appropriées pour mettre au point de tels outils denquêtes ou pour mener ladaptation nécessaire;

Je vous remercie de votre aide, car je pense que cet outil pourrait se révéler très précieux non seulement dans le cadre de notre programme dordinateurs portables à 100 dollars, mais aussi pour nos efforts densemble visant à rendre les gouvernements comptables de leurs promesses pour ce qui est datteindre les OMD.
Meilleures salutations.

Amil
_____________________________
Amil Husain (amil.husain@undp.org)
Coordonnateur mondial des jeunes
Campagne Objectifs du Millénaire des Nations Unies
304 east 45th street FF 614 New York, NY 10017
Tél. : 212 906 6024
Fax: 212 906 6057

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Estimados Colegas:

La Campaña del Milenio de Naciones Unidas está desarrollando una serie de juegos sobre los ODM que serán incorporados en la computadora portátil de $100 (ver adjunto una visión general del documento de propuesta). La computadora portátil de $100 es una herramienta única de aprendizaje creada específicamente para los niños más pobres del mundo. La computadora fue diseñada en colaboración con expertos, tanto eruditos como miembros de la empresa y será cargada a aproximadamente 10 millones de computadoras portátiles del mundo en desarrollo este año y con la intención de alcanzar a 50 millones para 2008. (www.laptop.org).

Como parte de nuestro programa, deseamos realizar una herramienta de encuesta sobre los ODM que los jóvenes (12  16) puedan utilizar para evaluar el progreso de sus comunidades en alcanzar los ODM. Nos imaginamos una encuesta simple, con preguntas relacionadas a los ODM (agrupadas por temas tales como pobreza, salud, educación, género y medio ambiente) incorporadas en computadoras portátiles. Los jóvenes podrían utilizar las computadoras portátiles en sus comunidades locales, plantear preguntas (por ejemplo: ¿Cuantas escuelas existen en su aldea, cuantos niños vs. Niñas van a la escuela?) y registrar las respuestas. Las computadoras podrían entonces, realizar cálculos sobre las respuestas a la encuesta y proporcionar información sobre la manera en que la comunidad esta avanzando en los Objetivos. Los resultados podrían ser archivados automáticamente en las computadoras portátiles de $100 y trasmitidos a Naciones Unidas por intermedio de una red de enlace o cuando los estudiantes tengan acceso a Internet.

Tenemos la esperanza que esta información pueda utilizarse para concientizar acerca de los ODM y servir como una herramienta de cabildeo local, para ejercer presión a los gobiernos para que realicen más actividades en temas como atención de salud, educación, medio ambiente, etc. La situación ideal sería tener una encuesta estadísticamente sólida para utilizar el conjunto de datos con objeto de colaborar a las Divisiones Estadísticas de Naciones Unidas en su trabajo sobre la evaluación del progreso dirigido al logro de los Objetivos.

Estamos buscando asociados para que nos colaboren con el desarrollo completo de las preguntas de la encuesta y los cálculos computados, para realizar evaluaciones aproximadas sobre cuanto está avanzando cada comunidad en los ODM. En términos de preguntas concretas, estamos interesados en saber acerca de:

" Ejemplos de herramientas de encuesta estadísticamente exactas sobre los ODM que midan el progreso de avance de los ODM en comunidades y que puedan ser adaptadas para el uso de gente joven;

" Pautas, directrices y lecciones aprendidas que deban ser tomadas en consideración cuando se desarrollen/adapten y utilicen tales instrumentos de encuesta;

" Recomendaciones de agencias, ONG, etc. que estén más adecuadas para desarrollar tal herramienta de encuesta o conducir una adaptación.

Les agradecería mucho su ayuda puesto que considero que esta herramienta podría ser muy valiosa, no solamente en el programa de las computadoras portátiles de $100, sino en todo nuestro esfuerzo de hacer responsables a los gobiernos en sus promesas de alcanzar los ODM.

Saludos

Amil

_____________________________
Amil Husain (amil.husain@undp.org)
Global Youth Coordinator
United Nations Millennium Campaign
304 east 45th street FF 614 New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212 906 6024
Fax: 212 906 6057

 

Facilitator's Note:

The query initiated a lively discussion among network members (Amina Tirana, Guido Schmidt-Traub, Nicolas Pron, Juan Ignacio Arango, Carolina Rodriguez and Amil Hussain) who suggested linking the initiative with DevInfo. In particular, given the scarcity of local level data in some places, it was agreed it would be appropriate to make sure the collected data can feed into national databases or DevInfo, and thus be used by governments, country offices, NGOs, etc. for development planning, monitoring and, of course, advocacy. Based on these exchanges, Millennium Campaign and DevInfo will collaborate on developing the MDG survey tool for young people as indicated below. We will report to the network members on details of this collaboration. We welcome additional contributions!

The contributions below were received from Amil Hussain (Millennium Campaign), Nicolas Pron (DevInfo), Maneka Weddikkara (Regional Center in Colombo) and Stefan Karduck (University of Cologne). Thank you!

Please note this discussion is cross-posted on the MDG Network and HDR Statistics Network.

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Amil Hussain, Millennium Campaign, wrote:

Dear Maneka,

Thank you kindly for this response and for all of the others who have replied.

We are happy to announce a very concrete collaboration has emerged from the list-serve between the UN Millennium Campaign and DevInfo to develop a MDG survey tool for young people.

We wish to make this a very collaborative effort so I would request anyone interesting in helping to please contact me.

Thank you again for all of your help.

Warm Regards,

_____________________________
Amil Husain (amil.husain@undp.org)
Global Youth Coordinator
United Nations Millennium Campaign
304 east 45th street FF 614 New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212 906 6024
Fax: 212 906 6057

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Nicolas Pron, DevInfo Global Administrator, wrote:

Dear Colleagues,

The discussion below is very interesting, in at least four ways:

1. We could easily work on an adaptation of DevInfo "lite" for the $100 laptop to reach thousands more users.

2. Linking the $100 laptop project to the UN's leadership in MDG statistical literacy would further boost our visibility in this area

3. DevInfo games for the $100 laptop might also be linked to one of our ongoing activity with the University of Michigan Global Program.

4. The proposed survey tool to measure MDGs on the $100 laptop might have positive spin off impact on the use of DevInfo in emergency situations (EmergencyInfo).

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Cheers!

Nicolas Pron
DevInfo Global Administrator

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Maneka Weddikkara, UNDG Regional Center in Colombo, wrote:

Dear Amil

Greetings from the UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo! I am happy to be of assistance in providing information and resources on “developing a survey tool on the MDGs which young people (12-16) could use to assess the progress of their communities in achieving the MDGs”. I have provided resources/information under each of the questions you had posed in your original request.

Please see below:

1. Examples of existing statistically accurate survey tools on the MDGs that measure the progress of communities in advancing on the Goals and could be adapted for use by young people;

Demographic and Health Surveys: DHS supports a range of data collection options that can be tailored to fit specific monitoring and evaluation needs of host countries. Learn more about the types of surveys, secondary data analysis, and specialized studies that MEASURE DHS performs. This link provides access to a variety of surveys on different indicators by country, survey type and indicator.

http://www.measuredhs.com/aboutsurveys/

Demographic and Health Surveys- Youth: Worldwide, there are more than one billion young men and women between the ages of 15 and 24. They make up the largest generation in history. MEASURE DHS has conducted more than 100 surveys around the world that gather critical information about youth. Specially trained MEASURE DHS interviewers have talked to thousands of young people about their education, jobs, health, sexual activity, contraceptive use, and knowledge of HIV/AIDS. National governments and non-governmental organizations use these data as building blocks to design, monitor, and evaluate programs to help young people achieve their potential. The administrators of this website are experts in Survey administration among youth; they may be able to provide expert advice on the construction and administration of surveys related to community progress of MDG monitoring specifically targeting youth.

http://www.measuredhs.com/topics/Youth/start.cfm

International Household Survey Network: The IHSN is a partnership of international organizations seeking to improve the availability, quality and use of survey data in developing countries. This website aims at providing tools and guidelines to cover all stages of household survey implementation, from planning to data archive and dissemination. This website has tools and guidelines for developing questionnaire- principles to be guided by and some reference material. It has country questionnaires and surveys by survey type country and year. This organization maybe able to assist you in developing or adapting an existing survey that could be used by young people.

Email address: info@surveynetwork.org http://www.surveynetwork.org/home/

Youth, Democratic Governance and the MDGs Report in Asia and the Pacific Presented to UNDP Regional Center in Bangkok March 8, 2006: This paper provides a good example of using a survey to discover the degree of youth involvement in governance, democracy and human rights activities across the region. The consultants drafted a survey with 20 questions available on-line through Taking IT Global. Annexure A has a example of a survey on Youth Participation on Governance and democracy. This is a really good example of how surveys are being used with youth to examine MDG related issues. For further information please contact the authors of the paper which is attached.

2. Tips and lessons learned to be taken into consideration when developing/adapting and using such survey tools;

Benchmarking Workshops- A Tool for Localizing the Millennium Development Goals: A pilot project in Bulgaria and the Russian Federation:

Community benchmarking is a technique used for collective strategic planning through participatory processes. In the most basic version of the benchmarking process, the community analyzes where it stands in the present and where it would like to be in the near and distant future. The community sets a number of goals and identifies indicators through which it could monitor its progress. Each indicator is then assigned benchmarks (targets) that measure this progress. The overarching approach is to focus not on the lack of resources but to draw form the community’s available resources, assets and specificities. Community benchmarking can be a powerful tool for creating local ownership of the MDGs by translating them into a local context. Benchmarking workshops have proven to be an effective tool to accomplish the difficult dual task of translating global goals into locally relevant ones and simultaneously fostering local initiative and commitment. This article provides interesting and dynamic ways to involve youth perhaps in designing a survey or making the MDGs relevant for their reality. I have attached the paper to this email.

3. Recommendations of agencies, NGOs, etc. that are best suited to develop such survey tool or conduct the adaptation

The Cyber School Bus Programme: The cyber school program is a web based learning resource targeting youth. The resources cover the MDG’s and many other developmental issues. The innovative site provides online testing and training, and is a good first step in learning about the MDG’s. This is a really good example of an online training and advocacy tool, and although the website is directed at young people, it may be a useful starting point in getting ideas and information on the type of survey questions that would be conducive to young people as they obviously have a myriad of experience in developing tools for on the MDGs for young people. To get further information on experiences and lessons learned when developing this tool, it would be a good idea to contact the focal point for this initiative, by emailing cyberschoolbus@un.org
http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/mdgs/flash/index.asp

Nick2015: Nickelodeon teamed up with the UN millennium Campaign to highlight all the things that need to be done in the world to live a better life… This site is very interactive and has lots little movie clips and information about the MDGs perhaps you could contact the administrator of this site and ask them for some ideas for the $100 laptops. As there work is aimed specifically at children and young people, they may be able provide advice on how to approach young people regarding the MDGs

http://www.nick2015.com/

Voices of Youth: This website everything you need to know about the global fight to end poverty by 2015. This site makes young people feel important in the fight against poverty and illustrates how they are central in achieving the MDGs. The Website also has a link to tracking progress of MDGs in countries and includes data on each country and MDG Maps. The UNICEF Voices of Youth project is another useful organization that would be able to help with designing a survey that targets youth and the progress of communities in advancing the goals.

http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/mdg/explore_2205.html

DevInfo 5.0: DevInfo's specific purpose and added-value is to collect existing data, identify gaps in the MDG indicators if they exist and provide a consolidated source of data on the MDG indicators. DevInfo's specific purpose and added-value is to collect existing data, identify gaps in the MDG indicators if they exist and provide a consolidated source of data on the MDG. The system has been developed under UN partnership and is distributed royalty-free to all end users. DevInfo has been adapted from UNICEF Child Info database technology and is an integrated desktop and web-enabled tool to assist countries in their reporting on the MDGs. It has simple and user-friendly features that can be used to produce tables, graphs and maps for inclusion in MDG reports, presentations and advocacy materials. This may be a useful tool to obtain ideas on the types of questions that are being asked in traditional surveys in terms of data and maybe useful in identifying gaps in information that could be asked in the survey being developed. The administrators of this tool may also be able to suggest innovative ways in which to present data to youth to create excitement interest about monitoring the progress of MDGs in their local community context.

http://www.devinfo.org/index.htm?IDX=1

MDG Dashboard: The MDG Dashboard presents the Millennium Development Goals indicators in a highly communicative format aimed at decision-makers and citizens interested in the Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development. This free database provides 60 MDG indicators for 200 countries and 15 years (1990-2005) based on original United Nations statistics (updated in March 2007). The administrators of this database may be able to provide expertise in how to target youth and perhaps give suggestions for composition of survey questions and how to adapt existing surveys to make them youth friendly.

http://esl.jrc.it/dc/

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or require further assistance. We would greatly appreciate if you could please provide a rating of this service (i.e. ranging from Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Below Average to Poor) to aid us in enhancing the quality of our service provision. Additional comments are welcome.

Best regards

Maneka

Maneka Weddikkara (Ms) Research/Programme Officer
MDG Initiatives ( MDG I)
UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo
23 Independence Avenue
Colombo 7 Sri Lanka
Tel: + 94 (11)4526 400
Fax: +94(11)4526 410
http://www.undprcc.lk

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Stefan Karduck, University of Cologne, wrote:

Dear Amil Husain,

I got your note cited below via Thomas Wollnik from InWEnt.

We designed an MDG-panel-study for German Agro Action (Germanys biggest NGO in the field) with first wave started in 2006.

The paper-based surveys are conducted and transferred to a web-based application on site and then uploaded to a data warehouse for further processing and analysis to share the results on the web (coming this summer).

I am sure, we could contribute to your project, since all tools were designed by ourselves right from scratch:

1. A questionnaire using only closed questions ("tick & go") on all items of the MDG that can be measured at household level.

2. An input format that relies on an Exel-file, so no permanent online access is needed.

3. A validation tool that loads up the information from Excel to a data warehouse while checking for data consistence. In case of inconsistency the tool sends a report pointing out the errors so that they can be corrected easily.

4. An analyzing tool that generates the MDG-Indicators from the data at different levels and illustrates them in easy to understand graphics.

If you find this interesting please contact me for further information.

Best

Stefan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PD Dr. Stefan Karduck
University of Cologne
Center for Deveolpment Research
Bernhard-Feilchenfeld-Str 11
50969 Cologne
GERMANY

 

[Facilitator’s Note: Please note this discussion is cross-posted on the MDG Network and the HDR Statistics Network]

Dear Amil,

The UNDP Equator Initiative has worked jointly with German Development Cooperation (BMZ and GTZ) to create an innovative tool that enables local communities to link their work to the MDGs. This is an online tool that enables the designing of a poster that describes the work of communities on the ground and visually links it to the MDGs being achieved. We feel this software is a natural fit for the OLPC as it contributes to stronger awareness of local efforts to achieve the MDGs in the developing world.

With the recent launch of both an online tool and a CD-ROM-based version, any community with a computer can now single-handedly create their own poster. The interface allows the user to select a background, enter pertinent information about their project’s connection to the MDGs, as well as upload pictures. In addition, there is an MDG Poster Book, which compiles examples of posters already created, and explains the rationale behind the development of the tool. While the book is currently available only in English and German, the online tool is accessible in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

The MDG Poster digital toolkit relates to the objectives of the UN Millennium Campaign in several ways. The first application is to educating youth. The inclusion of a set of survey questions regarding the local development situation is only the first step in raising awareness. Through answering these questions, youth can become familiar with the type of social conditions the MDGs advocate. Creating a poster about a school project, or a project in their communities will drive these ideas home. In doing so, the goals become less foreign and more personal. Children are no longer simply reporting about their communities but are also interested in making a difference.

The posters also provide a powerful communication tool. The overlay of backgrounds, colors, and images grabs a person’s attention. The poster can be presented to and make a lasting impression on local, national, and international decision-makers, donors, partners, and the like. It can also be used as a selling point to business leaders and potential investors whose capital resources can help communities in their quest towards achieving the MDGs. Thus, the posters not only bring awareness of the MDGs to the communities, but of the communities to the rest of the world.

The MDG Posters provide an engaging way to gather data and analyze trends. Whereas factual questions are efficient at collecting information that can be easily compared, a less structured approach has its advantages as well. The poster allows people to tell a flowing and engaging story. It gives more freedom to the user to decide what is most important to report on a local and personal basis. The posters also avoid the reduction of communities to a data set, instead bringing to light its unique character and situation. These factors make the poster a desirable means of learning about developing communities.

We encourage you to further explore this tool and to experiment with making your own poster at the MDG Poster Tool website. Let us know whether you are interested in any possible customization that might make this tool most appropriate for the age group you seek to involve.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Equator Initiative with any further questions or comments on the MDG poster tool.

Warm greetings

Nina

Nina Kantcheva
Community Outreach Facilitator
UNDP Equator Initiative
www.equatorinitiative.org