• Collecting data

Collecting data

This reader gives an overview of the recent debate amongst experts about statistics and their possible contribution for development, with special regard to Africa. It gives an insight into the current situation in various countries on different statistical aspects, highlighting problems and challenges as well as comprehensive efforts and best-practice examples for a more development-related and user-orientated statistical approach.

The document notes that although there is an increasing demand for statistics, there is still a critical shortfall in the national and international efforts to develop appropriate and sustainable capacity. Despite a  efforts in recent years to improve the situation a significant number of countries do not have enough data to track changes in poverty, child malnutrition or HIV/AIDS prevalence, for instance.

In a lot of countries women’s health, maternal mortality, access to water and sanitation, school enrolment and other relevant fields also cannot be measured sufficiently. Moreover, the work of national statistical agencies in many developing countries is “under-appreciated and under-valued.

Many statistical systems are caught in a vicious spiral of under-funding and under-performance. A lack of technical and institutional capacity, especially at the local level, is therefore a problem. Among the other problems are:

• Insufficient or inadequate programmes
• statistical systems, designed by the international community that do not fit well into the regional context
• lack of ownership of these statistical systems from the African point of view
• little coordination between various administrations and government agencies that are involved in producing statistics
• lack of coordination between national statistical systems and the donors

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