Ghana to host regional workshop on data use at country level

A workshop to be held next month in Accra, Ghana will look at ways to exploit the wealth of information already available to meet the financial and budgetary planning needs of partner countries, and to challenge those providing information to do so with greater emphasis on the quality needs of the end user.

Hosted by the Government of Ghana in its role as the member of the IATI Secretariat with responsibility (jointly with UNDP) for partner country outreach, the workshop will take place 19-20 March.

IATI and non-IATI stakeholders from the region will meet to:

• Gather consensus within the partner country constituency around the use of IATI as a tool for tracking all resources available for development;
• Promote awareness of IATI within the region and greater use of development data from all sources among IATI members and non-members;
• Identify and address specific needs for improved data quality, and resource or capacity constraints to promoting greater use of data at country level; and
• Exchange experiences on improving country-level information management systems to increase the use of data on development finance resources

Senior officials involved with global policy discussions, including on Financing for Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, will have an opportunity to discuss efforts to promote transparency to date, and to consider which additional support may be required to ensure that global efforts continue to reflect changing country needs, as reliance on aid becomes less significant and other forms of development finance expand.

In addition to the broader policy considerations on tracking all forms of development finance, this event offers a chance to examine country systems, frameworks and mechanisms through which information is expected to flow. Examples of good practice will be highlighted and shared, and system providers will be on hand to address practical challenges, including on automated data exchange of IATI data with existing country systems.

Participants will have an opportunity over the two days to agree on common actions to advance the use of development cooperation data, and any systemic barriers. Stakeholders will leave the workshop with a clear roadmap to promoting data use and strengthening development cooperation management systems at country level and cooperation at the regional level, together with the actions required at strategic and tactical levels to realise these goals.

The agenda for the IATI/UNDP Regional Workshop on data usage, to be held 19-20 March in Accra, Ghana, is now available. See what’s on offer here.

A list of participants and other workshop details will be available soon here.