Stories, ideas, and updates from DGers around the world

This post was written by Kady Touré, Communications Manager of the Des Chiffres et Des Jeunes (DCDJ) project, and was originally posted on the DCDJ blog. The original post can be accessed here. Ce blog est également disponible en francais ci-dessous.   As Women’s History Month came to a close last week, DG has been

The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and Development Gateway (DG) are pleased to release a new report entitled “Decision-Making and Data Use Landscaping: Better Data, Better Decisions - May 2017 to October 2018.” This work examines the role that data plays in supporting key decisions taken by DFID at the strategy, portfolio (sector or country), and programme level. Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through DG’s Results Data Initiative, the report synthesises in-depth interviews with approximately 60 DFID staff across four country offices, all sector teams, and senior management. 

Development Gateway is pleased to announce that we will be developing the Official Development Assistance (ODA) Information Management Systems for the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation (MIIC) in the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Incentives, accountabilities, and fitness-for-purpose influence how (and whether) data are used to drive policy. So what opportunities exist in national data ecosystems that can catalyze systemic change, toward greater evidence-based decision-making?

Data-driven decision-making was considered a positive norm across countries researched during the UNICEF Data for Children pilot process. Ideally, the national data use cycle would consist of: (i) evidence-based planning; (ii) implementing programs according to plans; (iii) monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and reporting; (iv) analyzing data; and (v) making appropriate planning or program adjustments.

What does “fit-for-purpose” data actually mean? It depends: on who you ask, and what decision is at stake. For governments and development partners – particularly those who rely on data from country systems for program planning and management – much frustration came from perceived redundancies in statistical and administrative data systems. 

Within the Sustainable Development Goal context of “leave no one behind,” there exists an opportunity – and a pressing obligation – to support better outcomes for children. But much of the change needed must happen at country and local level, through better use of data and evidence in decision-making.

Development Gateway (DG) is pleased to partner with Women In Mining (WIM) Guinea in the innovative design and development of a pilot for the first-of-its-kind Women's Index for the Extractive Sector: the WIM Africa Index.

Adaptive management – the idea that development projects should respond to real life complexities and be flexible enough to respond to unforeseen changes – is an often-praised approach to doing development differently, with donors and partners exploring how to apply it within their programming.

Moving into 2019, we are pleased to be expanding RDI alongside our growing set of partners and funders. The program’s third phase focuses on agency-level engagement, and we will be scaling our partnerships with these development agencies to use results data to inform critical policy and programmatic decisions.