SOMIS
Social Development Management Information System

 [Background]  [Workshop ] [Indicators per Area of Concern ] [Data Sources]

SOMIS or the Social Development Management Information System is a system that keeps track of a set of indicators and supporting data and information describing the state of the country’s social development situation.

It puts together data from various surveys, censuses and administrative reports of different agencies in charge of collecting data and/or service delivery related to social development.

SOMIS data can be used by the various government agencies, researchers, policy makers, and the public to assess on a regular basis the performance of the country vis-à-vis the country’s goals targets, and commitments for social development.

Background

The United Nation’s call to convene the 1995 World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) elicited a quick and effective response from the Asian and Pacific region. The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) convened the Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference in Preparation for the WSSD in Manila in 1994, which produced the Manila Declaration and Agenda for Action on Social Development. The Declaration and Agenda for Action served as the ESCAP region’s inputs to the WSSD.

In 1995, heads of states and representatives of NGOs and international organizations gathered in Copenhagen for the WSSD to recognize the significance of social development and human well-being for all and to give these goals the highest priority both new and into the 21^st century. The Summit gave birth to the WSSD Declaration and Programme of Action on Social Development, which represents a new global consensus on the need to put people at the center of development.

To review the progress of the ESCAP region in attaining the goals and targets of the 1994 regional social development agenda in the context of the WSSD Programme of Action, the Fifth Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference on Social Development was convened by ESCAP in 1997. It was also hosted by the Government of the Philippines.

While acknowledging the regional progress achieved in poverty alleviation, employment expansion and social integration, the member-countries and other participants note with concern the remaining issues to be addressed. Thus, the participants deliberated on proposals for national action and regional cooperation to accelerate the implementation of the regional Social Development Agenda in the light of current and emerging social development challenges in the region. The output of the regional conference was the Manila Declaration on Accelerated Implementation of the Agenda for Action on Social Development in the ESCAP Region.

One of the recommendations of the 1997 Fifth Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference on Social Development is the establishment of a social development management information system to support the monitoring and evaluation of social development programmes, and incorporate benchmarks, mid-period goals and intermediate targets in the monitoring and evaluation system. Specifically, the Ministerial Conference highlighted the need for establishing national SOMIS as an institutional mechanism and a tool for policy planning and programme monitoring and evaluation in the context of the goals and commitments as contained in the Regional Social Development Agenda and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development.

To initially address such recommendation, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) commissioned 3 national studies (Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives and Philippines) to examine the current country experiences in the selection and generation of social data and indicators, and to assess the feasibility of establishing a national SOMIS in specific national situations. Consequently, national workshops have been planned to be organized in the 3 pilot countries with the end in view of establishing and institutionalizing the SOMIS.

The Philippines held a national workshop on the establishment of a social development management information system (SOMIS) last 22-23 July 1999 in Mandaluyong City. 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 Peopled (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. The following NGOs were represented: National Council for Social Development (NCSD) and Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM). The output of the workshop is a set of recommendations including data content of the SOMIS, the institutional setup, the technology to be used, and possible areas for further assistance.