NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (SOMIS)

ORGANIZATION OF MEETING

  1. The National Workshop on the Establishment of a Social Development Management Information System (SOMIS) was organized by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in cooperation with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) at EDSA Shangrila Plaza, Mandaluyong City, Philippines from 22 to 23 July 1999.
  2. The workshop was attended by representatives from the following government agencies: Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), National Statistics Office (NSO), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW), National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), National Youth Commission (NYC), National Commission on the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP), National Nutrition Council (NNC), Population Commission (POPCOM), and League of Municipalities.
  3. The following NGOs were represented: National Council for Social Development (NCSD) and Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM).
  4. The following NEDA units were also represented: Social Development Staff (SDS), National Planning and Policy Staff (NPPS), Project Monitoring Staff (PMS), Regional Development Coordination Staff (RDCS), and NEDA Regional Office – Region IV.
  5. The following were the main resource persons: Dr. Paul Cheung, ESCAP Consultant and Dr. Celia Reyes of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

    6. OPENING OF THE WORKSHOP

  6. The workshop was opened by Assistant Director General Nestor R. Mijares IV of NEDA.
  7. In welcoming the participants, ADG Mijares gave a brief background of the workshop. He said that the establishment of a SOMIS arose from the recommendation during the 1997 Fifth Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference on Social Development to support the monitoring and evaluation of social development programmes and incorporate benchmarks, mid-period goals and targets in the monitoring and evaluation system.
  8. He drew the participants’ attention to the availability of most indicators the country needs to monitor the national implementation of the regional Social Development Agenda and its Medium Term Philippine Development Plan for 1999-2004. However, he emphasized the need to ensure proper consolidation and analysis of data which should readily feed into policy making, programme planning and other development interventions, and close cooperation among government agencies, non-government organizations, international organizations, and the rest of civil society.

    9. MESSAGE FROM ESCAP

  9. The message from ESCAP was delivered by Mr. Bienvenido Rola, Chief of the Disadvantaged Section and Officer-In-Charge, a.i. of the Social Policy Section, Social Development Division of ESCAP.
  10. Mr. Rola mentioned that the Asian and Pacific region has taken the lead in the world in the field of social progress in terms of considerable shift of attention from economic to social development as discussed during the Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference in Preparation for the World Summit for Social Development, Fifth Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference on Social Development both held in Manila, in 1994 and 1997, respectively, and the World Summit for Social Development held in Copenhagen in 1995. Unfortunately, the region was affected by the financial crisis and natural disasters which in turn affected the level of resources for programs and projects. Despite this, the region showed resiliency and there is a high level of optimism that the countries in the region will recover from the ill-effects of the natural and man-made disasters.
  11. The establishment of SOMIS entails lots of information for monitoring and target-setting, including collaboration among stakeholders on sharing of available information, identification of information needs, establishment of a network and system. He mentioned that the role of ESCAP is to promote the development of a national SOMIS, and promote cooperation and collaboration among member countries. He also stated that the Philippines has taken a lead role in the area of information system for social development. As such, the rest of the region can learn from the SOMIS national workshop. He reiterated ADG Mijares’ statement that so much information is available and attention should then be focused on the next steps in terms of establishing and institutionalizing the SOMIS.
  12. He urged the participants to share their views on their current efforts on social development information system, their proposals on how to establish and institutionalize the SOMIS for the next three months given present level of resources, including those needing additional resources. While ESCAP may not be able to provide additional resources, he assured the participants that ESCAP will be providing technical assistance in terms of ideas and coordination of efforts of other countries in the region.

    13. OBJECTIVES OF THE WORKSHOP

  13. Director Erlinda M. Capones of the NEDA Social Development Staff presented the objectives of the workshop. She mentioned that the workshop aims to: (a) discuss the regional and national frameworks for the establishment of SOMIS in the Philippines; (b) identify indicators, propose institutional set-up and necessary linkages, including the technology to operationalize SOMIS; (c) determine the resource requirements for the institutionalization of a national SOMIS; and (d) identify areas of cooperation among government agencies, the NGOs and international organizations. The presentation of objectives was followed by the introduction of participants from the various agencies (see items 2 to 5).

    14. HIGHLIGHTS

    Establishing a Social Development Management Information System: Issues and Perspectives by Dr. Paul Cheung
  14. In presenting the regional framework for the establishment of SOMIS, Dr. Paul Cheung traced the origin of the SOMIS from the social development conferences such as 1994 Manila Conference, 1995 Copenhagen Summit and the 1997 Manila Conference, one of the recommendations of which is the need for the establishment of a regional network of the respective national SOMIS of the different member-countries. He also mentioned that ESCAP’s survey on the implementation of the regional Social Development Agenda also points to the need of countries for a SOMIS.
  15. Dr. Cheung emphasized that the success of SOMIS will depend not only on the availability of data but on the utilization of data for policy making, formulation and implementation of programs and projects, and monitoring and evaluation. He also stated that the difference of SOMIS with other indicator system as it is tied up with capability building of countries.

    16. The list of issues and recommendations are indicated in Annex 1.

    Establishing a National Social Development Management Information System (SOMIS): Philippines Country Study by Dr. Celia Reyes
  16. In her presentation, Dr. Reyes mentioned that the policy environment is ripe for the establishment of the SOMIS, which may take off from the available indicators and existing system. However, she raised the issue on unavailability of some indicators and irregularity of collection of some data. In addition, she stressed that capability-building is needed for the agencies concerned.
  17. She emphasized that annual data gathering for all indicators may not be practical and not feasible for some indicators. Instead, she suggested the conduct of an annual assessment of data, which may only need proxy indicators instead of annual data gathering.
  18. The utilization of data particularly at the subnational levels was highlighted as a challenge to the establishment of the SOMIS. There is a need to know how data are being utilized at the national and subnational levels. To conduct a thorough assessment, monitoring should also include what policies are influenced, and how it influences investment programming within agencies.
  19. It was suggested that the targets and indicators be mapped with actual programs and projects, including expenditures to determine which targets are not being met. In addition, it was agreed that data should be disaggregated to reflect equity and possible overlaps in terms of definition of indicators should be eliminated.

  20. On the management of the system, the NEDA was identified as the focal point, with individual agencies as lead for specific sectoral areas, e.g., DOLE for employment, DSWD for social integration, etc.

The list of issues and recommendations is contained in Annex 2.

    Discussion on Management Information Systems of Agencies
  1. The participants discussed the management information systems of selected government agencies. In summary, the concerned agencies presented indicators and data available at their level (agency-level), including issues and challenges in terms of data collection and monitoring.
  2. On the relationship of the National Statistics Office (NSO) and National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), it was clarified that NSO reports to the NSCB as a Board member of the NSCB. NSO is in-charge of gathering general statistics (population, health, etc.).
  3. On the issue on generating local-level data, it was mentioned that almost 30 percent of data collection are being done through DSWD. Initial steps are being undertaken to strengthen collaboration with the LGUs on data collection through the DILG. The participants also mentioned the need for qualitative indicators at the local level and indicators on dysfunctional families.
  4. A summary of issues and recommendations on the agencies’ presentations is attached as Annex 3.

    5. Discussion on the Operationalization of the SOMIS
  5. The participants discussed the operationalization of a national SOMIS, as categorized in 3 areas, namely: indicators, institutional set-up and linkages, and technology. Core indicators were identified to gauge the country’s performance vis-à-vis the regional and national targets. Indicators and targets as contained in the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 1999-2004 and the papers of Dr. Reyes and Dr. Cheung were used as starting point for the discussion. Indicators were identified in the 11 areas of concern, including issues and recommendations on improving and fine-tuning the indicators for the SOMIS. The detailed list of indicators, issues and challenges are contained in Annex 4.

  6. On the institutional set-up, designation of focal agency for each of the 11 areas of concern were already done during the Multisectoral Committee on International Human Development Commitments (MC-IHDC) workshop held last December 1998. The same set-up was adopted during the workshop. Thus, NEDA will serve as the focal agency for SOMIS working with the following lead agencies: National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) for poverty alleviation, Commission on Population (POPCOM) for population, Department of Health (DOH) for health, Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), Technical Education, Skills and Development Authority (TESDA) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for education, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for employment, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) for housing, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for environment, National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) for disasters, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for crime, Department of Social Welfare and Community Development (DSWD) for social protection and family, and Social Development Committee (SDC) for resource allocation for social development.

Since most of the agencies have internet facilities, Director Capones who acted as the Chair requested the lead agencies to supply the data using the attached matrix and include the same in their homepage. Target date for completion is 15 August 1999.

CLOSING OF THE WORKSHOP

  1. NEDA Assistant Director General and concurrent Chair of the Multisectoral Committee on International Human Development Commitments (MC-IHDC) Augusto Santos delivered the closing remarks.

  2. In closing the workshop, ADG Santos emphasized the needto strengthen collaboration among the government, nongovernment organizations, donors and international organizations in terms of establishing and institutionalizing the SOMIS. In view of the current financial constraints due to the ill-effects of the Asian financial crisis, he stressed the immediate need for direct interventions to address poverty, unemployment and social disintegration. At the same time, development interventions should be as cost-effective as possible.
  3. In view of the financial constraints of the national government, he stated that there is a need for additional resources for the establishment and institutionalization of the SOMIS. Given that the operationalization of the SOMIS is a rolling process, he also emphasized the need to regularly analyze the system, including the data and indicators to ensure the relevance of policies, programmes and projects.

  4. Lastly, he mentioned that the Multisectoral Committee on International Human Development Commitments (MC-IHDC) will be the venue for coordinating the efforts of the country with respect to the operationalization of the SOMIS.