South Africa: Regional Workshop on Data Documentation and Dissemination (June 24-26, 2014)

The ADP held a regional workshop on data documentation and dissemination in the Southern Africa region from June 24-26. The DDP has engaged NSOs in all 15 countries of the Southern Africa Development Community in regional and national-level capacity development in microdata documentation and management. ADP is also supporting some of the countries in the development of dissemination policies, and facilitating country-level user/producer exchanges through microdata outreach workshops. Together with the University of Cape Town, the ADP regional partner in Southern Africa, the workshop brought together users and producers of the region.
The workshop shared experiences with practices and challenges in microdata documentation, management, access and use. It also facilitated dialogues among stakeholders to identify potential opportunities for future collaboration. The workshop objectives were the following:
• Undertake a stock taking exercise with key countries and partners and assess the direction of the next 18 months of the program
• Share regional and national experiences and practices in microdata documentation, management, dissemination and user management and outreach, identify remaining challenges and develop strategies for sustaining the existing work
• Gain feedback from key users on microdata availability, access and use: how microdata are being used for research and policymaking on the regional and national levels; whether existing data sufficiently address their needs
• Promote new tools developed by the IHSN, such as the Question Bank and Anonymization toolkit, and discuss plans for training programs and advocacy at the regional and country level
• Bring together and raise visibilities of key stakeholders in the region, and identify potential new partnerships and activities
Participants from various countries in the region and beyond attended. This included:
• Representatives from NSOs and other major data producers in the region (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe)
• Key and active users from sub-Saharan Africa: research institutes/think tanks, universities, NGOs, etc.
• Representatives from countries outside of the region: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda
• Regional and international partners: World Bank, AfDB, Afristat