Ethiopia: CSA conducts a Microdata Outreach and Advocacy Workshop for Data Producers and Users (October 2014)
The Central Statistical Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia in collaboration with ADP/PARIS21 conducted a microdata outreach and advocacy workshop for data producers and users in Addis Ababa on 7th of October 2014. The main objectives of the workshop were to (1) promote microdata including disaggregated administrative data documentation, archiving, and dissemination among data producers in Ethiopia (2) facilitate user-producer dialogues on the challenges they face with regards to data availability, accessibility and quality of survey and administrative data, and (3) identify possibilities of sharing metadata in the National Statistical System (NSS) and establishing a central data repository (federated archive) in CSA using the collections functionality of ENADA.
The workshop was attended by about 90 participants including the panelists and participants from data producers, survey and administrative data users, researchers and policy evaluators from universities, research centres, INGOs, NGOs, professional associations and line-ministries. The workshop agenda was designed to have presentations from major official data producers in NSS to share and reflect on their experience, practices and challenges in disseminating disaggregated data. Accordingly, the CSA, Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Education (MoE) and Ministry of Health (MoH) demonstrated their data dissemination systems and strategies. Likewise, presentations on users’ perspectives were made by key data user agencies like Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), Ethiopian Economic Association (EEA) and International Food Policy Research Institute (EFPRI). The presentations from both user and producer panels were followed by a fruitful discussion among the stakeholders for further improvement of the data dissemination systems in NSS.
As a way forward, the major official data producers like CSA, MoE, MoH and MoTC agreed to find possibilities to share metadata in a central data catalogue at CSA using the collection function of ENADA. Likewise, the CSA has expressed its commitment to open more survey data on-line to users as licenced data files in ENADA.
Mr. Biratu Yigezu the DG of CSA opened the workshop and delivered an opening remark. A presentation on ADP/IHSN tools and guidelines and importance of microdata outreach and advocacy program was given by ADP Program Officer, Mr. Mahesh Subedi. A keynote speech was delivered by Mr. Leandre Ngogang Wandji from Africa Centre for Statistics of UNECA. The workshop was co-facilitated by Ms. Aberash Tariku, DDG of CSA and the ADP Program Officer, Mr. Mahesh Subedi.
