1. The "snapshot tool": an assessment of strengths and weaknesses of the National Statistical System of developing countries
XV meeting of the Management Group on Statistical Cooperation Luxembourg, March 2013

2. Context EU development assistance, particularly budget support
Monitoring and results-based management
Aid effectiveness and Busan Action Plan for Statistics
Are statistics produced by developing countries and used by EuropeAid and EU Delegations reliable?

3. Potential users EuropeAid, EU Delegations in developing countries
Donor community
NSIs of developing countries

4. The objectives of the "snapshot tool"
To assess strengths and weaknesses of the National Statistical System
To provide information on the reliability of statistical information produced by developing countries
Identify statistical areas in need of support

5. Key strategy User-friendliness
A systemic approach: if the overall system is strong/weak, there is an impact on the quality of the whole statistical production
Based on Eurostat quality framework
Build on the results of already existing assessment tools of international organizations (PARIS21, World Bank, UNSD, etc.) and study possible synergies

6. The content of the tool
A questionnaire (in excel), divided into two modules:
Overall assessment of the NSS (5 themes: country strategy for statistics, organization of the NSS, adequacy of resources, determinants of the data quality, relations with users)
Assessment of statistical sectors: health and education (at sector/Ministry level and at indicators level)

10. A system of color codes to present the results
User-friendliness
A system of color codes to present the results

11. A pilot tool
It needs to be tested in the field: one round of missions was carried out in 2012 (in Mozambique and Laos)
Testing will help to further improve the design and feasibility of the tool, as well as to provide recommendations on:
Who should fill the questionnaire (EU Delegation, NSI, etc.) and how?
How to present the results (graphs, narrative report, etc.)?
Which decisions can be taken based on the results (e.g. design a statistical cooperation programme, etc.)?

12. The future
Adding further statistical sectors (e.g. agriculture, infrastructure, trade, climate change, etc.)
Second round of testing missions (2 in Africa, 1 in Latin America, 1 in Asia)
Promotion (user manual, web page, brochure, e-learning, training and cooperation with international organizations)

13. Thank you for your attention!