96533 PARIS21 Secretariat International Household Survey Network (IHSN) DGF 401013-06 Final Report BACKGROUND Since April 2006, the IHSN core program is implemented as a satellite program of the PARIS21 Secretariat at OECD. It is supported by the World Bank MAPS Development Grant Facility (DGF). A grant of US$700k was allocated for year 2013 under the Grant Agreement DGF 401013-06. The grant was signed on 14 March 2013, with a closing date extended to 30 June 2014. The funds were received at OECD on 29 March 2013. Progress and results on this grant have been reported through the required semi-annual reports on 30 June 2013, 31 December 2013, and 30 June 2014. GRANT OBJECTIVES The objective of the grant (as set out in the grant agreement) is to support the core program of the IHSN and its objectives to improve the availability, accessibility and quality of survey data, avoid duplication of data collection activities, improve cost-effectiveness of surveys, and reduce the burden of international survey programs on national statistical systems. DELIVERABLES SUMMARY Item Description of Deliverable % delivered Comments 1 Updated Central Survey Catalog On-going As of June 2014, the IHSN survey catalog with citations included listed 3,766 surveys and censuses and 10,480 citations. 2 Version 2.X of the DDI Met target The DDI Metadata Editor is now referred to Metadata Editor application, as the “NESSTAR publisher”. The current available in Arabic, English, version is 4.09. The application is distributed French, Portuguese, Russian as a freeware, available in all required and Spanish. languages. See: http://ihsn.org/home/software/ddi- metadata-editor 3 Version 4.X of National Data Met target Launching new versions of the software has Archive (NADA) available in been greatly simplified with greater regional Arabic, English, French, expertise being developed. Current version is Portuguese, Russian and 4.2 available on-line. See: Spanish. http://ihsn.org/home/software/nada 4 The IHSN microdata Met target The C++ programs have been integrated in anonymization toolbox the open source sdcMicro package (Version available: a collection of 4.02), now available on-line. A user guide for computer programs (in C++), an the package and an “Introduction to improved version of sdcMicro, statistical disclosure control” have been complemented by practical produced. To complement these materials, a guidelines and case studies for “Practice manual” is currently being the assessment and reduction developed. of disclosure risk in microdata files. http://ihsn.org/home/software/disclosure- control-toolbox 5 Selected IHSN tools and Met target Guidelines and access to working papers guidelines translated and provided on the web site. See: available on-line. http://ihsn.org/home/guidelines http://ihsn.org/home/working-papers IHSN Working Paper No 5 (on microdata dissemination policies and procedures) was translated into Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese. 6 Survey Management Toolkit 1.2 Changed/met Instead of developing a Survey Management available as open source target Toolkit, the IHSN developed a “Data deposit software. system” which is very close to the original idea, but better integrated in the microdata curation suite of tools. 7 Upgraded IHSN Question Bank Below target The new IHSN Question Bank has been available on-line. finalized and is being tested, but has not yet been published on-line. 8 Three additional working Below target Working papers on survey planning have papers, available on IHSN been drafted for: Ethiopia, Malawi, Sri Lanka, website. Rwanda and Philippines. These are being integrated into a series on survey planning. Preliminary findings presented at a conference in Cape Town. 9 Evaluation report available. Met target The ADP/IHSN independent evaluation report and the response by the IHSN Management 2 Group are available on line at: http://ihsn.org/home/node/627 10 Future directions for the IHSN Met target / The discussions have started with the IHSN discussed and agreed. On-going Management Group. The future of IHSN has been clearly defined until the end of the DGF period (December 2015), but no final decision has been made regarding the post- 2015 IHSN directions. The discussions are still on-going, in the context of discussions on the post-2015 development agenda, Data revolution, and United Nations Statistics Commission. DELIVERABLES DETAILS (PRIMARY ACTIVITIES) 1. Updated Central Survey Catalog with Citations The IHSN on-line survey catalog is regularly maintained, and by the end of the grant reporting period listed 3,766 surveys and censuses, including 2,789 with variable-level information. This represents 204 countries and regions. DDI quality reviews are on-going and reconciliation with country survey catalogs is also on-going. At the end of the grant reporting period, the citation catalog held 10,480 research citations. A manual has been developed for training citations clerks. Further modification of the Citation Manager application (a component of the NADA cataloguing software) will be required to address bottle necks that were discovered during the citation training. A revised version of the Citation Manager and the Manual are expected for 2014. 2. Updated version of the Metadata Editor available in key languages No new development of the Metadata Editor (freeware) application occurred during the reporting period. The exploratory work undertaken during the previous reporting period to assess the feasibility of developing a web-based version of the software has been completed. The decision has been made to integrate the various software applications (Metadata Editor, Data Deposit and NADA cataloguing) into one single application. The IHSN has also completed a feasibility study related to the integration of three IHSN software applications (Metadata Editor, Data Deposit Tool, and NADA) into one single application (NADA 5). Future enhancements will be undertaken with a view to developing the NADA 5. 3. Updates National Data Archive Software (NADA) Version 4.2 of NADA (the open source software developed by the World Bank and IHSN for on-line cataloguing and publishing of survey data and metadata) was released during the reporting period. 3 Version 4.3 (a minor upgrade of version 4.2) is being developed and will be released by end- 2014. Modifications and improvements to the NADA are on-going. 4. IHSN Anonymization Tools Available The IHSN is in the final drafting stages of developing two key documents for distribution related to the use of the R based data anonymization tool known as sdcMicro. The documents include:  Introduction to Statistical Disclosure Control  Tutorial for sdcMicroGUI These documents will be available on-line and form the basis for providing guidance that will teach statisticians the process of protecting against statistical disclosure and apply the various techniques to identifying at risk variables. 5. Selected IHSN Tools & Guidelines translated and available on-line  A report on microdata dissemination by international organizations was produced by the World Bank for the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) Task Team on Microdata Dissemination. The report, which recommends the adoption of the DDI metadata standard, was endorsed at the 22nd session of the CCSA in March 2014.  The IHSN has been improving standards and methodology for training on data documentation and archiving. The training program focuses on the application of the Metadata Editor and NADA installation. This training is a modular approach to survey data documentation and dissemination.  The IHSN Guidelines on microdata dissemination (already available in English and French) have been translated into Spanish. They are now being translated into Arabic and Portuguese.  Assessment framework for improving the reliability of consumption data from household surveys (both food and non-food) o Development of a Household Food Consumption Assessment measuring the reliability and relevance of household food consumption survey modules was undertaken with key IHSN partners (FAO) o The assessment of the non-food expenditure modules of household surveys is still being implemented. The desk work of reviewing and evaluating the questionnaires has started and should be largely completed by end-2014. o These assessments will be formalized for presentations to the countries interested in improving their measurement of consumption based indicators.  Development of a gender meta-database, which has been published in the form of an on-line data discovery tool (available in the IHSN website) named “Gender Data Navigator” (http://datanavigator.ihsn.org/). This tool has been very well received by gender specialists.  The IHSN has developed a pilot survey budgeting tool (Beta Version). It is designed as an easy to use tool in Excel and provides a tabular environment for household survey planners to input key cost parameters.  The IHSN has developed a Survey Planning Checklist. This project aims to publish good practice related to the planning, timing and sequencing of household surveys. Various case studies have 4 been completed (Philippines, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sri Lanka). This work, led by the team at PARIS21, is still underway.  A data deposit tool is being developed. This web-based application will allow users to deposit data for publishing in an on-line catalog. The application will be published as open source software after its documentation is complete (expected in September 2014). The IHSN expects this application to be particularly relevant for large organizations and academic data centers. 6. Survey Planning Toolkit The survey planning toolkit has been replaced and now includes the Data Deposit Application. This is a tool which allows data producers (whether internal or external) to provide data to a national data archive. The applications allows for users to fill in basic metadata and deposit documents and data into a repository. It uses the same technology as the National Data Archive (NADA) . The tool was demonstrated in a multi-country and regional forum on data documentation and dissemination in Cape Town (June 2014). 7. Question Bank Development The Question Bank has been piloted (by the ADP) on a very limited basis with Ethiopia and Philippines. The Question Bank has required modification and redesign. The Question Bank is both a software product and an electronic repository of survey guidelines. Content for the Question Bank continues to be added and greater functionality developed. The new version will be released on a pilot basis in September or October of 2014. The tool was demonstrated in a multi-country and regional forum on data documentation and dissemination in Cape Town (June 2014). Several agencies have expressed a strong interest in the tool when it becomes available. 8. Three additional working papers A series is being elaborated that looks at the survey planning processes in various countries. Preliminary reports have been prepared for: Malawi, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Philippines and Sri Lanka. A standardized checklist and questionnaire have been developed for country reporting. Preliminary findings of these reports were presented at a multi-country and regional forum on data documentation and dissemination in Cape Town (June 2014). The documents will be integrated and reviewed and be available for public dissemination. 9. Evaluation Report Available The ADP/IHSN evaluation and the response by the IHSN Management Group are available on-line (http://www.ihsn.org/HOME/node/627). Recommendations from the evaluation have been presented to the IHSN Management Group and some of the recommendations have been applied. This includes:  Integrations of survey planning and budgeting into the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS)  Regional support to key agencies and partners in the region to help support dissemination of IHSN tools, guidelines and standards. 5 ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES Additional activities were also supported as per the DGF grant. These include the following:  Exploring synergies with partner needs in household data. One such partner who has been seeking harmonization of the use of survey data is the WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) in Water and Sanitation. There is a need for an innovative data information system that would capture the various monitoring activities currently undertaken at the country levels, reconcile them and to align with global monitoring done by the JMP. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has developed the Global Information Management System on Health and Environment. The IHSN will evaluate the effectiveness and support the process of the applying the tool in harmonizing the use of data from household surveys.  The IHSN participated in a regional conference in Southern Africa. The workshop was sponsored by World Bank, PARIS21 and DataFirst (University of Cape Town). The IHSN has been working with DataFirst as a key partner in the southern region of Africa. The IHSN was able to provide demonstrations and guidance on various developments and receive key input from implementers on tools such as: Question Bank, Data Deposit Tool, Budget Tool and Survey Planning. Various presentations were undertaken by the IHSN with time for discussion on conceptual design for the tools.  A meeting of the IHSN Management Group took place in September 2013 in Rome (hosted by FAO). During the meeting, Oxford Policy Management presented the report of their independent evaluation of ADP/IHSN, which was discussed by the Management Group.  An IHSN Management Group meeting took place on the margin of the United Nations Statistics Commission in New York in March 2014.  The IHSN website is regularly updated. New open source collaborative tools are being tested. In particular, the IHSN has adopted “ReadTheDocs” as a solution to develop on-line manuals, and is testing “OpenAtrium” as a collaboration platform. “ReadTheDocs has proven to be a particularly effective (and free) solution to create and publish software manuals and technical guidelines. 6 USE OF THE FUNDS 41 contracts were processed with individual consultants, private companies and public institutions. The terms of reference and the summary of the outputs delivered under each contract are available upon request at the PARIS21 Secretariat. Interim financial reports were submitted on 30 June 2013, 31 December 2013 and 30 June 2014. A separate final financial report is submitted with this report. The grant budget (USD 700,000) was used as follows (USD): PROJECT STAFF & RELATED COSTS 183,925 INTELLECTUAL SERVICES 287,553 MISSIONS 109,255 HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE 20,243 OTHER COSTS 70,227 VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION ADMINISTRATION CHARGE 28,797 TOTAL 700,000 7