Regional Workshop on DevInfo v. 5

The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in close collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fund Middle East and North Africa Regional Office (UNICEF) and United Nations Development Group Office (UNDGO) are organizing a training workshop on DevInfo v5.0 to be held in Cairo from 18-22 September 2006. The meeting is hosted by the Information and Decision Support Center, address 1, Magless El-Shaab St., Cairo, Egypt.

Background information

DevInfo is a tool designed to support governments in MDG monitoring, and can be adapted to include additional user-defined indicators that are linked to key national monitoring frameworks. This software offers a cost-free and effective solution to address the needs of UN agencies and national partners to set up MDG based information management system. This new version, which was released in May 2006, offers a range of new tools and features including a fully web-enabled version for effective dissemination and presentation of MDG and human development indicators.

The workshop is the third in a series of regional activities on DevInfo, and countries that have started work on this tool can benefit greatly from the upgraded version of the software. The training is expected to build a pool of regional trainers who can facilitate in-country training at the national level.

Objectives

Participants will receive training on the new features and tools of the “Users” and “Database administration” interfaces; in addition they will share the experiences gained and lessons learned in customizing and implementing DevInfo at the national level. Hence, each participating country will be asked to make a brief presentation on the current status and future plans with respect to DevInfo.

Participants

Two government officials in the Arab region are expected to attend the training. The officials should have received previous training on DevInfo, hence they should be familiar with the use and benefit of this tool. Additionally, one of the officials should be the person who manages/administers DevInfo as he/she is later expected to facilitate the in-country training on DevInfo. The other official should be actively involved with the use of the software, and coordinates data issues. All travel costs and per diem of participants are to be covered by the UN Country Team.

Kindly complete the attached nomination form and submit it to Ms. Nadine Shaar, [shaar@un.org] no later than September 4st, 2006.

All nominees will be required to pass the DevInfo v5.0 e-learning orientation to be eligible to participate in the workshop. (Please visit http://www.devinfo.info/e-learning/en/index.htm).


Working languages

The working languages of the workshop are English and Arabic; no simultaneous interpretations will be made available.