Editor’s Note:This is the final installment in a three-part series on DevInfo implementation in Moldova.
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On 8 December 2010 at UNICEF Headquarters in New York City, the UNICEF Moldova Representative shared a presentation titled, “Where on Earth is Moldova: Equity and Child Rights.” The audience was quite varied and included the Deputy Executive Director, senior Programme and Communication colleagues, fundraising staff, interns and administration staff.
One of the key components of the presentation was an illustrative map displaying both the extent of deprivation across Moldova’s communities (based on the Small Area Deprivation Index, or SADI) as well as the extent of UNICEF’s interventions across the country. Using the map, the UNICEF Representative was able to clearly show the link between areas of deprivation and the localities where UNICEF is intervening.
UNICEF Moldova has been using DevInfo Moldova to prepare maps such as these, for advocacy and fundraising purposes. A country adaptation of the UN-endorsed DevInfo database system, DevInfo Moldova is a national socio-economic database
administered by the Republic’s Ministry of Economy. With geo-referenced data available down
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UNICEF interventions in 2010, mapped over districts shaded according to their Small Area Deprivation Index value. Source: UNICEF Moldova |
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to the district and community levels, the software is ideally positioned to assist UNICEF Moldova and other development partners with the creation of maps highlighting socio-economic challenges and progress in the country.
According to Elena Laur, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, UNICEF Moldova, “Different SADI maps generated from DevInfo Moldova have been included in donor reports, presentations and other documents sent out from the UNICEF Country Office.”
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DevInfo Moldova maps have also been extensively used to support advocacy and fundraising efforts related to the Education for All/Fast Track Initiative (EFA/FTI) by UNICEF Moldova and World Bank Country Offices as well as by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Moldova. At the national level, SADI maps were first used by policy-makers to identify communities without pre-school services. These maps were then subsequently presented at both the International Conference on EFA/FTI in October 2009 and the National Conference on EFA/FTI in November 2010.
The maps were also included in a country presentation for the EFA/FTI Board of Directors meeting held in Washington, D.C. in May 2010, which led to the Board confirming Moldova’s eligibility for an EFA/FTI Graduation Grant. Once approved, a new EFA/FTI tranche of USD $4.4 million will help the Government of Moldova to increase equitable access to quality pre-primary services for all children, especially the most vulnerable ones (Roma, children with disabilities, poor children, children from rural areas, etc.).
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CD prepared by UNICEF Moldova, World Bank and Government of Moldova for various Education for All/Fast Track Initiative conferences.
Source: UNICEF Moldova |
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These examples of DevInfo Moldova maps supporting key advocacy and fundraising efforts demonstrate once again that DevInfo database technology, when put to good use, can result in significant benefits for a nation’s most vulnerable citizens.
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Data making a difference. |
For more information, please contact Elena Laur, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, UNICEF Moldova, at elaur@unicef.org
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