Implementing EQUIST in Bangladesh with National, Divisional and International Collaboration29/11/2019 Shahrouh Sharif, Advisor-Data Analytics and Health Systems Strengthening, Community Systems Foundation Seth Davis, Programme Advisor, Community Systems Foundation From 21-30 October 2019, Community Systems Foundation met with UNICEF Bangladesh and national, regional and international stakeholders in Dhaka, Bangladesh to initiate work towards strengthened use of data to save young lives. 
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Seth Davis, Programme Advisor, Community Systems Foundation An estimated 617 million of children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age worldwide are not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics, according to the 2019 SDG Progress Report of the Secretary General. Of these students, “about two-thirds are attending school but are not learning in the classroom or drop out of school.”  Seth Davis, Communications Officer, Communications Officer Considering the Maldives are an archipelago of 1,192 coral islands with around 200 islands containing schools, historically it has been difficult for the country to create a central education system that caters to the needs of all learners. To unify the education system, and to collect, store and obtain significant information for decision-making and management, the Maldives began utilizing OpenEMIS. Since launching the Maldives Education Management Information System (MEMIS), an adaptation of the open-source toolkit, data handling has become easier for education officials in the Maldives. While teachers and administrators have collected data on paper for many years, MEMIS has enabled education professionals to more efficiently manage and access data on students, staff and schools. MEMIS has assisted teachers through the mobile-friendly attendance record keeping feature. And, for the first time ever, school officials are using MEMIS technology to generate over 40,000 student report cards. With easier access to reliable education data through the MEMIS Dashboard, policy decisions can now be informed to ensure education access, equity and quality and to improve internal coordination and efficiency. Ruchi Varma, Program Manager-Urban Development, Community Systems Foundation Jayati Narain, Research Associate, OpenCities Institute From Urban Imperative by Edward Glaeser & Abha Joshi-Ghani, cities can best be understood as a ‘triad of forces’. While commonly seen as physical entities, such as streets, buildings, and subways, and viewed from the lens of the public sector, which defines the borders of the city and has the responsibility for providing clean water and public safety, Glaeser and Joshi-Ghani note that cities have a third, equally important, element. That is, “the magic of human interaction.” [1]  Strengthening India’s Education Data Dissemination through Visualization Tools on U-DISE and NAS19/10/2018 Seth Davis, Communications Officer, Community Systems Foundation With 377,222,017 students in pre-primary, primary and secondary schools in 2018, nearly one-third of India’s total population is attending education institutions below the university level. [1]. The number of Indian school children is larger than the entire population United States - the third largest country in the world.  Ruchi Varma, Program Manager - Urban Development, Community Systems Foundation With 70% of the global population residing in urban areas by 2050, the battle for a sustainable future will be won or lost in cities. Foreseen to be the second largest urban system in the world, India will be a major driver in this global effort, especially considering India will house nearly 60% of its population in cities by 2050. In this regard, it is critical to strengthen local governments response to the Agenda 2030 and New Urban Agenda to ensure ‘no one is left behind.’  Ministry of Education in joint efforts with Community Systems Foundation (CSF), a non-profit organization that works toward sustainable development of information technology in science and educational activities, has launched Maldives Educational Management Information Systems (MEMIS).  Jay Neuner, Communications Manager, UN SDSN TReNDS Sandra Ruckstuhl, Program Manager, UN SDSN TReNDS Reblog: UN SDSN TReNDS In 2018, TReNDS launched a microgrant program through SDSN’s Local Data Action Solutions Initiative (LDA-SI). During this calendar year, the program is supporting five sub-national SDG data and monitoring efforts. Through real-world examples, these projects are generating a series of adaptable models that can be utilized in locations around the world to improve local SDG achievement. Learn more about the program here. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are often framed in global terms–as the “Global Goals” or efforts to save our planet–or national terms–such as in the Voluntary National Review process, to which individual countries can commit. Community Systems Foundation is among those calling for a complementary approach–that of “listening to cities.” The organization’s urban initiative OpenCities Institute (OCI), a 2018-2019 LDA-SI grantee, is using its micro-grant support to do just this in India. Much like LDA-SI does at a global scale, OCI is embedding know-how, tools, and capacity for the use of city-level data by sub-national governments in India, with the goal of facilitating evidence-based solutions for the SDGs. Under the program, OCI will develop a proof-of-concept package for SDG localization that will demonstrate to cities the feasibility and the value of local SDG monitoring. It includes development of a model indicator framework for the city of Patiala in Punjab that reflects upon its municipal human development objectives across sectors. The development of this framework will not happen in a silo; rather, OCI aims to make this an inclusive process by conducting consultative workshops with local stakeholders and experts, as well as municipal officials. The resulting framework will be illustrated in a prototype data dashboard that serves as a one-stop visual overview of the city’s development priorities, seen through the lens of the SDG indicators, thereby “valorizing the SDG localization process through data visualization.” In future stages, the results of this project may support a full-scale SDG observatory in the region. This project hopes to showcase how SDG localization can evolve into a living reference dashboard and generate local action by adopting a data driven approach to sustainable urban development. In particular, OCI’s work in this grant program will aid a particular urban context–Indian cities such as Patiala, that have limited exposure to a global stage yet have initiated their commitment to harness datasets and drive effective actions. Learn more about the OpenCities Institute here. Follow updates on the 2018-2019 microgrant cohort here. Seth Davis, Communications Officer, Community Systems Foundation Reblog: OpenEMIS Education planners and data analysts in the Maldives are seeking to deliver high quality education through data analytics. From 15 July to 2 August 2018, 12 participants gathered in Male’ City for the Maldives Education Management Information System (MEMIS) Analyst Trainings. Trainings were held to assist Ministry of Education (MoE) staff with OpenEMIS reporting tools and visualization techniques. Having started the MEMIS initiative in 2015, the MoE is now seeking to strengthen their skills and abilities to fully utilize tools to analyze collected data.  Ruchi Varma, Program Manager - Urban Development, Community Systems Foundation Seth Davis, Communications Officer, Community Systems Foundation A powerful message was shared at the first Local and Regional Governments’ Forum during the 2018 High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on how Sustainable Development Goals are a unique opportunity to strengthen local governments. An unprecedented group of stakeholders which included policy-makers, mayors and ambassadors met at this forum to create an open dialogue on how cities can localize the SDGs. The forum, co-hosted by the UN DESA, UN-Habitat and the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, positioned policy-makers and mayors to share best practices, policy recommendations and promoted the #ListentoCities movement showcasing the role of ULBs in the implementation and the follow up to Agenda 2030.  |