Global Programme on Democratic Governance Assessments Strengthening inclusive participation and responsive institutions through measuring

The mushrooming industry of indicators

This raises challenges for national actors… Lack of transparency Burden on government Lack of understanding Situation of specific populations or groups

4 UNDP’s Global Programme on Country-Led Governance Assessments Photos by Adam Rogers/UNCDF

Why the demand for support?  Aspirations by national stakeholders  Donor policies  Challenge of ranking and ’shaming’

The programme Offers guidance, technical assistance, financial support aimed at strengthening national capacity to conduct democratic governance assessments.

By strengthening the demand side of governance (an accountability mechanism) By strengthening the supply side of governance (evidence base for national decision making) The dual role of assessments

● Tajikistan ● Djibouti ● Nigeria ● Senegal ● Angola ● Malawi ● Indonesia ● Bhutan ● Nicaragua ● Chile Barbados & ● Eastern Caribbean ● Mexico ● Macedonia ● Morocco ● Egypt ● Mongolia Support to 16 countries ( )

9 What is a country-led assessment? Photos by Adam Rogers/UNCDF

10 Country-led assessments Undertaken by a country on its own initiative Can be initiated by government, civil society, research institutes Range in focus (comprehensive or sectoral) Active participation of state and non-state actors Results feed into policy-making processes

Key steps in conducting a country-led governance assessment Identify key stakeholders Establish a steering committee Identify national institution or civil society organisation for hosting initiative Conduct multi- stakeholder dialogue on governance priorities Raise funds Decide on sampling Decide on indicators Decide on assessment framework Decide on who will do the research Select type of assessment Decide on how to collect data Analyse results Disseminate results Conduct multi- stakeholder consultation Develop policy recommen dations Conduct policy reform or advocate for reform Institutionalize the assessment and repeat at regular intervals

12 Ten features of an effective DG assessment 1. Alignment to national political priorities and processes 2. Assessment is country contextualized 3. Methodology is rigorous 4. Selection of indicators is transparent and participatory 5. Results are stored in a public national database 6. Indicators are pro-poor and gender-sensitive 7. Capacity of national stakeholders is developed 8. Cost-effective and timely 9. The results are widely communicated 10. The assessment is repeated UNESCO/Loock F.

Improving dialogue Improving “usability” of evidence Reliable & trustworthy evidence Getting appropriate buy-in Incentives to use evidence Effective dissemination Wide Access Data Users Policy Makers Parliament Political Parties Civil society Data Producers Statisticians Officials Researchers Increasing uptake: Matching technical rigour to policy relevance

14 Moving away from global indexes Country contextualization Political economy and sector focus ‘Actionable data’ Key institutions: WB, TI, Global Integrity Trends on Measuring Corruption/Governance

OGC Knowledge Products – emocratic_governance_assessments.htmlhttp:// emocratic_governance_assessments.html –User Guides and training material –Country examples –GAP Portal

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