Putting Data to Work for Zanzibar

Using the Advanced Data Planning Tool to track SDGs and MKUZA-III
Zanzibar

Background

In September 2015 the United Nations General Assembly approved long-term, broad development targets to be attained by all member countries by 2030. Progress towards these 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is assessed by measuring against 232 individual indicators. The ongoing need to track these indicators has created significant demand for data in countries around the globe.

Problem

In December 2016, the Tanzanian National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) partnered with the Tanzania Data Lab (dLab) and Partnerships in Statistics for Development in 21st Century (PARIS21) to bring PARIS21’s Advanced Data Planning Tool (ADAPT) to Tanzania to create an SDG data roadmap and realize mainland Tanzania’s second Five-Year Development Plan (FYDP-II). This partnership, however, did not extend to Zanzibar, which has its own Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS) and its own development plan, the third Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (MKUZA-III).

Solution

Having seen the success of ADAPT in mainland Tanzania, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and OCGS reached out to the dLab to assist in implementing ADAPT in Zanzibar. A $30,000 budgetary allocation from UNFPA will support the creation of an SDG roadmap along with an adaptation of the tool to Zanzibar’s MKUZA-III goals. The dLab is currently working with UNFPA to build the capacity of the OCGS team and is offering technical support so that Zanzibar can use its data to report on SDG indicators.

Process

The commitment made by OCGS and UNFPA began the process of bringing ADAPT to Zanzibar. Since then, they have worked to associate specific indicators to MKUZA-III targets, including 142 that track with SDG indicators in areas such as enabling sustainable and inclusive growth, providing quality services for all, and adhering to good governance principles, among others.

As a next step, the dLab will lead a workshop on ADAPT, and then entry of the MKUZA-III indicators into ADAPT can commence. This phase, which is taking place from October through December 2017, will be followed by the process to link existing data to the indicators and to identify data gaps.

Outcomes and Impact

When the implementation of ADAPT is completed in Zanzibar, it is expected to have the following key outcomes:

• Ability at OCGS to use data from multiple sources to track SDG and MKUZA-III progress, enhancing Zanzibar’s progress in and commitment towards achieving SDGs and MKUZA-III;
• Improved efficiency in data collection through streamlined identification of meaningful data gaps;