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PRESS RELEASE

MASEDA 3.0 launched in Malawi

The most comprehensive national database on human development

Maseda 3.0 Website

"If you can’t measure development, you can’t manage it."
Michael Keating, UN Resident Coordinator

LILONGWE, 2nd July 2007 – The National Statistical Office has launched MASEDA 3.0, the latest and most comprehensive database on human development in Malawi. Malawi Socio-Economic Database (MASEDA) is designed as a fundamental tool to promote evidence-based planning of development efforts. The official launch was presided over by Malawi’s Deputy Minister for Economic Planning and Development Hon. Roy Chizimba M.P., and NSO Deputy Commissioner Mrs. Mercy Kanyuka.

MASEDA is one of the key components of a three-year Joint Programme on Monitoring and Evaluation, a US$ 3.7 million partnership between Government and the UN System in Malawi, EU, GTZ, Millennium Challenge Corporation (USAID) and DFID. MASEDA is live on www.maseda.info and available on CD-Rom.

Speaking at the launch of the event, Mr. Michael Keating UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Malawi said, “I am excited about the opportunities that MASEDA 3.0 presents. Management of development is impossible without measurement tools. MASEDA allows a common understanding of the performance and impact of development investment. I encourage everyone to vist www.maseda.info. You will be impressed.”

Mr. Keating added, “Our role is to support the Government track progress of meeting Millennium Development Goals in Malawi, prioritise development investment by region and sector and raise and allocate funds in a coordinated fashion to maximise results.”

MASEDA 3.0 software organizes data by sector or geographic area and presents this in different formats – maps, graphs and tables. The mapping facility can produce 28 individual district maps showing Traditional Authority (TA) boundaries within each district map.

MASEDA 3.0 contains over 600 socio-economic indicators, which can measure progress of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS), the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and sector-specific targets. It was developed to enable government departments, development organizations, civil society, research and academic institutions to access uniform information for coordinated national development efforts.

Mr. Keating commended NSO for its commitment and hard work in developing the database. NSO developed the first version in 2001 with 147 key indicators and launched a second version in November 2004. MASEDA is based on DevInfo software, which has been adopted globally by the UN as the format for national indicator databases.

This week marks the halfway point between adoption of Millennium Development Goals in 2000 and the target date 2015. The 2007 UN Millennium Development Goals Report shows that sub-Saharan Africa is not on track to achieve the Goals, but reaffirms that the goals can be achieved with the right combination of policies, resources and global partnership.

Policy-makers and development planners at national, district and local level can use MASEDA to ensure policy formulation is in response to the real picture on the ground and therefore determine the sectors and regions that require increased investment, and accelerate progress to meet the Goals.

Millennium Development Goals provide the framework for the UN system to work coherently together towards a common goal. Meeting the goals demands forging robust partnerships with Government, donor organizations, civil society and the private sector to reduce widespread poverty, ensure equitable access to social services and economic growth.

Visit www.maseda.info or contact, National Statistical Office, maseda@malawi.net

For more information contact:
Chandra Sekhar, M & E Specialist, UNICEF, +265 1 770 788, csekhar@unicef.org
Alwin Nijholt, Trust Fund Manager, Joint M & E Programme, UNDP +265 1 773 500, alwin.nijholt@undp.org UN Communication Officer, Susan Muguro +265 8 967 991, susan.muguro@undp.org