Developing governance indicators for a complex post-conflict situation like Iraq is truly ground-breaking work. There are no existing models, no ready-made assessment frameworks available globally that can be easily applied to such contexts. As such, the pioneering efforts of the Iraqi Government in developing a national governance monitoring system can provide invaluable direction to nascent efforts in other countries and regions which are similarly affected by conflict.

 

The Government of Iraq has recently completed its first National Development Plan (NDP) for the period 2010-14. It is now in the process of developing sector-level indicators to monitor the implementation of the Plan.

 

The Governance Chapter of the NDP is clearly the hardest ‘sector’ for which to come up with realistic and measurable indicators. But it is arguably the most important section of the Plan: not only is good governance a pre-requisite for achieving all other sectoral goals, but it is also the key to peace and stability.

 

On 6-8 July 2010, the Global Programme on Democratic Governance Assessments, in close collaboration with UNDP Iraq, UNAMI and USAID, facilitated a 3-day workshop attended by more than 30 high-level Iraqi officials to start identifying priority issues, specific indicators and data collection methodologies which could be used to monitor progress against the strategic goals outlined in the Governance Chapter of the NDP.   

 

The Workshop Agenda and the following key presentations of the workshop are downloadable on this page:

  

Findings of the previous Erbil NDP workshop, by Nael Shabaro, Deputy Chief of Party, USAID-Tatweer (download)

 

Governance within the MDGs and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), by Pamela Husain, PM&E Unit, Resident Coordinator’s Office (download)

 

Developing Objectives & Indicators for Strategic Planning, by Helen Olafsdottir (download)

 

Global trends and principles of democratic governance assessment, by John Samuel, Democratic Governance Advisor, UNDP Oslo Governance Centre (OGC) (download)

 

Recap – Day 1 (download)

 

How can we measure governance?  Principles, data collection processes and challenges of measuring governance in post-conflict environments, by Shipra Narang, international consultant (UNDP OGC) (download)

 

How can we measure governance?  Types of indicators and sources of data, by Marie Laberge, UNDP Oslo Governance Centre (OGC) (download)

 

Defining a Good Governance Assessment Framework for Iraq: Combating corruption, by Marie Laberge, UNDP Oslo Governance Centre (OGC) (download)

 

Defining a Good Governance Assessment Framework for Iraq: Local governance and democratization, by Shipra Narang, international consultant (UNDP OGC) (download)

 

Recap – Day 2 (download)

 

Defining a Good Governance Assessment Framework for Iraq: Rule of law, by Marie Laberge, UNDP Oslo Governance Centre (OGC) (download)

 

Defining a Good Governance Assessment Framework for Iraq: Public sector modernization, by Shipra Narang, international consultant (UNDP OGC) (download)