II. Monitoring of MDG Indicators

A. Data Flow

The monitoring of the localized MDG indicators of Region V will be done in three geographic levels, i.e. municipal/city level, provincial level and regional level. Each level has its own complete set of activities including the gathering, collection, compilation, consolidation and validation of data, and the maintenance and updating of databases. These activities will be done on a semestral basis, i.e. every January and July covering the past six months.

The local activities support the activities at the higher geographical level, the end product of which is the regional database of MDG indicators.

The data flow shall cover the localized MDG indicators and the activity indicators based on the deliverables of the local government units (LGUs).

The specific activities that will be conducted in each level including the actors and the schedule of the conduct of the activities are described below.

1. Municipal/City Level

The concerned municipal/city offices, e.g. Municipal Health Office and Municipal Social Welfare Office, shall gather/collect/compile the needed data within two weeks after the reference period for submission to the Municipal/City Planning and Development Office (M/CPDO) and to the concerned Provincial Offices, e.g. Provincial Health Office and Provincial Social Welfare Office. The MPDO/CPDO shall compile, validate and consolidate the data submitted within two weeks after receipt of the data. The consolidated validated data shall be submitted to the Provincial Planning and Development Office within the two-week period. The MPDO/CPDO shall also establish and update the MDG database at the municipal/city level within two weeks after the release of the validated data. As much as possible, the municipal/city database shall include data with barangay disaggregation. The data shall also be disaggregated by sex, if applicable. The database shall be submitted to the PPDO for consolidation at the provincial level.

2. Provincial Level

The concerned Provincial Offices shall compile, validate and consolidate the data submitted by the municipal/city offices within two weeks after receipt of the data. At the same time, the Provincial Offices shall conduct their own data gathering for provincial level MDG indicators and/or for provincial level MDG activities, if any, within two weeks after the reference period. The Provincial Offices shall submit to the concerned Regional Office the consolidated validated provincial level data from the municipal/city offices and the provincial level data they generated. Copies of the data shall also be submitted to the PPDO for data validation and consolidation, and for inclusion in the provincial database. The PPDO shall have a maximum of two weeks each for the data validation/consolidation and for the updating of the database. The provincial database shall contain data with provincial and municipal/city level geographic disaggregation, and sex disaggregation, if applicable. The PPDO shall submit the consolidated validated provincial data with municipal/city disaggregation including the database to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Regional Division (RD) V, the designated repository of MDG indicators at the regional level.

3. Regional Level

The concerned Regional Offices shall compile, validate and consolidate the data submitted by the Provincial Offices within two weeks after receipt of the data. At the same time, the Regional Offices shall conduct their own data gathering for regional MDG indicators and/or for regional level MDG activities, if any, within two weeks after the reference period. The Regional Offices shall submit the validated consolidated regional data from the Provincial Offices and the regional level data that they generated to the NSCB RD V. The data shall have regional, provincial, and city/municipal geographic disaggregation, and sex disaggregation, if applicable. The NSCB shall likewise validate the data submitted by the Regional Offices with the data submitted by the PPDOs. Inconsistent data between the Regional Offices and the PPDOs shall be referred back to the concerned Regional Office and PPDO. If necessary, the NSCB shall conduct a field validation as a ride-on activity of the field-monitoring visit of the Regional Development Council’s Regional Project Monitoring and Evaluation System (RPMES).

The NSCB RD V shall compile all the data submissions of the Regional Offices and the PPDOs. These shall be included in the National Statistical Information Center (NSIC) for ready access by any concerned data user. These shall include both the MDG indicators and the program/project/activity indicators. The data shall have regional, provincial, and city/municipal geographic disaggregation, and sex disaggregation, if applicable. It is expected that the data are available at the regional level within two months after the reference period.

For the MDG indicators, the NSCB RD V shall establish and maintain the regional database using the DevInfo software. Walk-in clients could access the DevInfo database. At the same time, it shall develop a database of MDG indicators using NSCB Interactive Statistical Databases (i-Stats) for uploading in the NSCB RD V website. The i-Stats is NSCB’s interactive database that contains a comprehensive compilation of multi-sectoral data about the region and its component provinces, cities and municipalities presented in time series. This database aims to bring statistics closer to the various users at the convenience of their homes, offices or workstations. The database has been developed with technical assistance from Statistics Sweden.

The regional database shall contain data with regional and provincial disaggregation, and sex disaggregation, if applicable. Considering the schedule of the data submission from the municipal up to the regional level, and the conduct of data validation and inputting of data to the database, it is targeted that the updated regional database is available within three months after the reference period. The data inputting could be facilitated if the PPDOs could submit an electronic copy of their databases, in which case, the updated data would be available in less than three months.
 

B. DevInfo

For the database that shall be established in all the geographic levels, it is recommended that the DevInfo software shall be used. The database software was developed by the UNICEF with the cooperation of the UN system. Trainings on the use of the DevInfo software had been conducted with some LGUs and line agencies. Such trainings shall be continued for LGUs and line agencies that have yet to undergo the same trainings. Technical assistance shall be provided to LGUs during the early stages in the establishment of the LGU databases.

The DevInfo v4.0 is a database system that helps to organize and present data on social development indicators. The database consists of the following elements:

• Indicators

• Time periods

• Geographic areas

• Subpopulations

  • sex

  • urban/rural

  • age groups

• Units

• Sources

• Data values

Its enhanced features are as follows:

• Goals (MDG) page as default indicator page

• Indicator-Unit-Subpopulation (IUS) as linked data parameters

• Screen tip/reminder for Auto-Select button

• New ID system for areas

• Gallery link in Data View page.

DevInfo also allows the addition or modification of indicators depending on the needs of the user. At the same time, one could change the name of the product, the home page, the color scheme and other aspects of the database system to tailor fit to the specific requirements of the user.

The system provides access to indicators organized by sectors, goals and themes and other data management schemes. It is a user-friendly software application integrated with Microsoft Office for easy presentation of data in tables, graphs and maps. The maps in DevInfo are spatially-referenced. DevInfo also provides multiple language support. Any database may be translated into multiple languages.

The system requirements of the DevInfo are as follows:

• Pentium II or higher recommended

• 128 MB of RAM

• 300 MB of free hard disk space

• Display resolution 640 x 480 (1024 x 768 or higher recommended)

• Microsoft Windows 95 or above (optimized for Windows 98, 2000 and XP)

• Microsoft Office 97 or above

• IE 5.0 or above

Given the above requirements, it is suggested that, if possible, there should be one dedicated computer for the database in every LGU.

C. Standard Concepts and Definitions

To allow the comparison of data across LGUs, standard concepts and definitions shall be adopted by all data sources. The RSCC shall adopt the definition and formula contained in the publication of the United Nations entitled “Indicators for Monitoring the Millennium Development Goals.” For local indicators that are not included in the document, the official definition being adopted in the Philippine Statistical System shall be used.

III. Monitoring System for MDG Programs, Projects, Activities and Targets

The existing RPMES of the RDC shall be adopted in monitoring the MDG programs, projects, activities (PPAs) and targets at the municipal/city, provincial and regional levels. The LGUs shall be required to submit monitoring reports on a semestral basis. Field validation visits shall likewise be conducted. The responsible actors for these activities in each geographic level are explained below.

A. Municipal/City Level

At the municipal/city level, the Municipal/City Development Council thru the Municipal/City Project Monitoring Committee shall monitor the implementation of the PPAs that support the MDGs as contained in the LGUs’ action plans. The DILG, as the agency in-charge of MDG localization among LGUs, shall assist in the monitoring of implementation of local MDG PPAs thru the Municipal/City Local Government Office (M/CLGO).

On the other hand, the Offices of the Municipal/City Poverty Action Officer, Municipal/City Social Welfare and Development Office and M/CLGO shall be responsible in monitoring and evaluating the attainment of MDG targets based on the status of MDG indicators.

The municipal/city monitoring reports shall be submitted by the Municipal/City MDG Focal Person to his/her counterpart at the provincial level.

B. Provincial Level

At the provincial level, the Provincial Development Council thru the Provincial Project Monitoring Committee shall monitor the implementation of PPAs at the provincial level. It shall likewise compile and consolidate the municipal/city monitoring reports and conduct regular monitoring visits. The DILG Provincial Office shall likewise assist in the conduct of the provincial monitoring.

For monitoring and evaluating the MDG targets at the provincial level, the Provincial Poverty Action Officer, Provincial Social Welfare Office and DILG Provincial Office shall be responsible. The Provincial MDG Focal Person shall submit provincial monitoring reports to the RDC at the regional level.

C. Regional Level

At the regional level, the Regional Development Council thru the Regional Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC), DILG Regional Office and NEDA Regional Office shall lead in monitoring the MDG PPAs at the regional level while the RDC’s Social and Development Committee and the NEDA Regional Office shall monitor and evaluate regional MDG targets using the updated regional MDG indicators.

Figure 1 illustrates the recommended system for monitoring the localized MDGs of Region V. The system includes both the data flow for monitoring the MDG indicators and for monitoring and evaluating the MDG PPAs and targets.