Preliminary info on a new Development Account Project on Millenium Development Goals

1. Preliminary info on a new Development Account Project on Millenium Development Goals Third SPECA PWG Meeting Paris 13 June 2008Petteri Baer, Regional Adviser, UNECE

2. Project name and timing • “Supporting MDG-based development strategies through integrated regional action” • Project funding: USD 593’000, financed by the UN Development Account, • To be implemented in 2009 – 2011 by UNESCAP (and SIAP) in collaboration with UNECE

3. Overall objective of the Project “To strengthen, through delivery of regional public goods, the national capacities to formulate, implement and monitor national development strategies in support of the implementation of internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs, through consolidated regional actions”

4. Three expected achievements • EA1: Improved capacities of policymakers and experts to integrate MDG-based strategies in national development frameworks. • EA2: Increased skills to produce and disseminate relevant disaggregated MDG indicators through effective cooperation of data producers at a national and international level in support of national statistical systems which are based on countries’ needs and sound methodologies. • EA3: Enhanced coordination among the UN agencies in supporting achievement of the MDGs and implementing the regional MDG road map.

5. UNECE is responsible for the Statistical component • Increased skills to produce and disseminate relevant disaggregated MDG indicators through effective cooperation of data producers at a national and international level in support of national statistical systems which are based on countries’ needs and sound methodologies. • This component will have a focus on Central Asian countries • UNECE will investigate the possibility of other Russian speaking NSOs to participate

6. Financial scope of the Project • Of a sum total of USD 593’000 of the whole project • …the share for the Statistical component, having the lead of UNECE, has been decided to be USD 95’000 • With the funding of USD 95’000 ~two Workshops can be organized

7. Draft plan for Workshops (1) • Workshop 1 • An expert group meeting to discuss and agree on a • Common set of additional indicators that are relevant to development challenges of relevant sub-regions, • especially Central Asia. • Special attention will be given to • identifying disaggregated data that are more relevant to inequality issues in the countries, such as • data by geographic characteristics (urban/rural, sub-national areas) and • individual variables (age, sex, ethnicity)

8. Draft plan for Workshops (2) • Workshop 2 • A training workshop in support of • building capacity of national statistical offices and other MDG producing agencies • especially for Central Asian and • possibly also other Russian speaking countries to • explore data availability and use, • to agree upon mechanisms to share and coordinate data between producers of statistics and to • improve coordinated dissemination of MDG indicators to different stakeholders

9. Preliminary Timing Plan • Workshop 1 • To take place in the first half of 2009 • Workshop 2 • To take place in the first half of 2010

10. Detailed decisions still to be made • The project has been in principle approved • The implementation plan is under preparation • Work on implementation will commence next autumn

11. With Technical Cooperation to a brighter future • Questions? • Comments? • Thank you for your attention! • petteri.baer@unece.org