HIGH LEVEL COMMITMENT, LEADERSHIP AND COUNTRY OWNERSHIP Prof. Ben Kiregyera NSDS Workshop, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 11 August 2005

2 COVERAGE I.High level commitment II.Leadership III.Leadership versus Management IV.Leadership of the NSDS process V.Country ownership

3 I.HIGH LEVEL COMMITMENT Political leaders & senior government officials (key policy & decision-makers) should get engaged as early as possible to:  Advocate for statistics – create greater political will to develop and use statistics  Ensure NSDS process is appropriate  Make or endorse major decisions e.g. reforming and restructuring the NSS, revising a legal framework, creating coordination arrangements, investing in statistics Level of engagement of high level officials will depend on decision-making processes in each country

4 GOVERNMENT COMMITMENT Concept Funding Attention Data Use Commitment Increased Government funding Increased attention (e.g. raising the profile of statistics) Extensive use of data for policy and decision- making

5 Champion(s) of the process Experience shows better results when process is championed by a senior government official (e.g. Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe) Champion of process from donor side (e.g. Uganda)

6 II.LEADERSHIP  leadership issue is one of the most significant items on the agenda of private and public organizations  success or failure of an organization largely depends on quality of its leader  need good leaders to meet organizational challenges such as: globalization fast-paced technological change rising expectations of citizens and customers increasing diversity in societies need for performance focused organizations need for managing networked organizations

7  an effective leader: is made not born; is made through unending process of self-study, education, training, experience and emulating good leaders shows enthusiasm supports, develops & motivates other people, procures, safeguards & continually enhances competencies provides a vision and direction practices what he/she preaches (walks the talk) encourages team work encourages feedback strategic thinker is agent of change does not always tell you the time; builds a great clock to continue telling the time after he/she is gone

8 III.LEADERSHIP Versus MANAGEMENT a manager is not necessarily a leader. But one must have good leadership qualities in order to be a good manager Leader creates an agenda, establishes direction & develops a vision & strategies to achieve the vision Manager plans and budgets; establishes detailed steps & timetables for achieving needed results; allocates necessary resources Leader develops a network for achieving the agenda. Communicates direction (words & deeds) Manager organizes and staffs; establishes structures; staffs; delegates responsibility and authority; develops policies and procedures to guide people; creates monitoring systems

9 A leader has a long range perspective A manager has a short range view A leader motivates and inspires; focuses on & energizes people A manager relies on control; solves problems; monitors results against plans A leader produces change; often to a dramatic degree A manager accepts status quo A leader does the right things (effectiveness) A manager does things right (efficiency)

10 IV.LEADERSHIP OF THE NSDA PROCESS  Need high Level leadership  Prime mover – NSO to be prime mover & to provide team leader, accommodation and administrative support  Director of NSO should be overall coordinator of the process  Small design team: 3-5 people drawn from different institutions in the NSS Mix of statisticians, analysts & other users of statistics e.g. actors in related processes e.g. PRSP, GDDS, etc Team Leader with a senior position in NSO (Zimbabwe and Namibia, Deputy Directors)

11  NSDS missionaries  Need to create strategy awareness among all staff: mobilize staff to support it, educate staff about management systems provide for feedback about the strategies.  Need for strategy missionaries – those who will be teaching others about the strategies.

12 V. COUNTRY OWNERSHIP  Stems from: Political commitment and leadership Integration of NSDS into National Development Policy Processes Developed as part of consensus-building/advocacy process - helps build commitment & partnerships - led nationally and inclusively Road map developed nationally  Regional/international facilitation role Advocacy Convening workshops Advice e.g. on resource mobilization Guidance, documentation, knowledge base Reporting, collaboration between partners Information sharing END

13 Thank You