Involving the UN in Sudan in the data revolution

There’s no way back from data!

Organizing information, understanding trends and making strategic decisions based on data is becoming an inexorable necessity. Many initiatives have highlighted the importance of using data to conceptualize and implement more effective development strategies: the Independent Expert Advisory Group’s report A World that Counts: Mobilizing the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Solution Network’s report Data for Development are just two examples showing that there is no way back from data in our field of work.

So we wanted to test out how the UN in Sudan can use technology to get insights from data. We started looking into the different options available and we are currently working to harness tools like data visualization technology, mapping tools, mobile data collection systems, and more.

What are our data needs in Sudan?

Monitoring progress on the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) in Sudan has been a challenge due in part to weak and fragmented data collection and analysis mechanisms. As a result, the UN Country Team in Sudan has struggled to measure and communicate to partners its collective contribution to the development of the country.

Once we defined this as our core problem, we went back to the drawing board and decided to create a web-based common system to collate, manage, analyze and visualize UNDAF indicator data using a variety of technology tools.

In that spirit, motivated by similar tools such as U-report and M-vam, the UN Country Team in Sudan worked with Community Systems Foundation to develop the UNDAF Indicator Reporting System (IREPS) to help monitor and report on UN development interventions in the country.

So what exactly is IREPS and what are its features?

IREPS is developed as a user-friendly, web-based common platform to facilitate monitoring and reporting on the UNDAF. UN staff are able to quickly and securely enter, track and analyze UNDAF performance from anywhere using online tools.

We linked IREPS to SudanInfo (a database containing a wealth of data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys for Sudan), so that we can connect UNDAF data to socio-economic indicators and enhance their analysis. IREPS is also supported by a bounded-crowd SMS-based data collection mechanism.

At a glance, IREPS has three parts:

1. Indicator reporting to help users track progress towards UNDAF targets. Data entered by multiple users will get updated in real time. The system is designed to allow the entry, display and download of narrative reports, too.
2. Survey creation and data collection through mobile phone SMS plug-in: The SMS feature allows the creation and dissemination of survey questions to community users and the remote collection of real-time data through mobile phones.
3. Performance dashboard which enables users to view various charts automatically, including who-does-what-where maps, and thematic maps and graphs showing data for UNDAF outcome and output indicators, as well as indicators in SudanInfo and data collected via SMS. The dashboard also presents traffic light summaries for the UNDAF outcomes and outputs.

With these functions IREPS is using technology to harness data to support our work and help us be more results-oriented, transparent, accountable, as well as to increase our coherence in monitoring and reporting.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan

Our innovation in Sudan is an attempt to pave the way to help the UN system be a part of the data revolution.

We launched IREPS, with flying colors, in May, and it was appreciated positively. So much so that a number of UN agencies in Sudan started using it for their own monitoring purposes! As it is based on open source software, we are happy to share it to help other UN Country teams  monitor and report on the UNDAF.

Our aim through the IREPS SMS plug-in is to gather perceptions and opinions from individuals across Sudan, including remote areas, to provide contextual information for an improved understanding of UNDAF data from administrative and survey data. We can also use it to understand how national and local partnerships are going. For instance, to gauge the effectiveness of UN capacity building activities (e.g. training workshops on new irrigation techniques in various states) we can use the SMS tool to collect feedback on how our partners are applying what they learn. In addition, we can use the SMS feature to outreach to communities and raise awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2030.

We would like to invite you to join our efforts, sharing ideas and experiences on how we can advance IREPS to shape the way we think about transforming data into better decisions-making to bring about a positive impact for development.