Call for candidates

Training Workshop on “Constructing equity-sensitive indicators for assessing progress of Millennium Development Goals in Africa”.

Organized by the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Population Growth and Human Welfare in Africa,
with the support of the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)

Nairobi, Kenya, 12-15 September 2007

Deadline for application: 21 June 2007

Background
Many indicators for assessing progress in human welfare are often given as national or regional averages. In particular, targets for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are set at the national level, and it is possible to achieve some MDG targets without specifically addressing equity issues. As an example, programmes can choose to focus mostly on sub-groups (e.g. wealthier people) with greatest potential to achieve gains in health-related targets. Some targets however, for example those of childhood mortality, may be more difficult to achieve without addressing equity in access to services and healthcare. The training workshop aims to raise awareness of differentials that may exist in MDG-related indicators between different sub-groups in a country. Emphasis will be in calculating indices by wealth status, urban/rural residence, by gender and possibly by geographic zones. Data from the demographic and health surveys in African countries will be used for demonstration.

Objectives of the workshop
a) To raise awareness of differentials within countries of selected MDG targets through a training workshop on constructing equity-sensitive indicators;
b) To improve analytical skills of Africa-based junior and middle-level scholars.

Description
A four-day training workshop will be organised to give hands-on training on how to construct equity-sensitive indicators for assessing progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. To facilitate hands-on training using computer sessions and programming, the workshop will be restricted to about 15 junior and middle-level scholars from around Africa. They will analyse demographic and health survey (DHS) data from their countries to highlight differentials in indicators by urban/rural areas, wealth status, and by gender. Indicators to be used for demonstration will be picked from the following: contraceptive use and unmet need for contraception, desired family size, child mortality, access to skilled delivery, and schooling.

Participants will be encouraged to complete the analyses and write reports after the workshop and those who make progress may be sponsored to attend future events organised by the Scientific Panel on Population Growth and Human Welfare in Africa.

This training workshop will take place immediately after a seminar on Urbanization and Poverty in Africa (10-11 September 2007) also being organised by the panel and participants to this event are encouraged to apply to attend the seminar as well.

By the end of the course, you will
a) Be able to analyse DHS data using either SPSS or STATA statistical packages to produce ratios, means, and rates
b) Be able to calculate selected MDG indicators (e.g. infant mortality, contraceptive prevalence rates, % with skilled delivery assistance) for different sub-groups
c) Have prepared an outline based on your analyses to be developed into a paper/report.

Eligibility of participants
This workshop is intended to provide more tools to interested African scientists working on issues related to the MDGs and equity issues.

Participants should have the following qualifications:
• A masters’ degree in a quantitative subject (statistics, mathematics, demography, economics),
• or a bachelor’s degree in a quantitative subject with at least three years experience of data analysis;

• Junior or middle-level of their career (less than 6 years experience);
• Work on issues related to the MDGs and equity issues;
• Current experience (within past 12 months) in data manipulation and analysis;
• Some knowledge of statistical software (Epi-Info, SPSS or STATA) to the level of calculating means, standard deviations, and cross-tabulations;
• Fluent in English, the language of instruction.

Preference will be given to those currently working in government departments, universities, and non-governmental organisations.

How to apply
Applicants are required to fill out the online submission form by 21 June 2007.
Applicants should enter (or paste in) their CV information and their justification (maximum 1 page) of why they should be selected to attend the training. The justification should include how the training is related to their current work/studies, previous experience (if any) in analysing DHS data analysis, previous training in a related topic, and how they intend to use the skills acquired and to disseminate the outputs from the training event. Applicants will be informed of their acceptance by 15 July 2007.

Facilitators
The workshop will be facilitated by Drs Nyovani Madise (Senior Research Scientist at APHRC, Nairobi and Reader in Social Statistics at the University of Southampton), Philippe Bocquier (Institut de recherche pour le développement, France, and Head of the Centre for Applied Research at AFRISTAT, Mali) and Akim Mturi (Associate Professor at University of KwaZulu-Natal), all of whom have experience teaching and analysing DHS data.

Participants are encouraged to seek their own funding to cover the cost of their participation in the seminar. However, those who need financial assistance from the IUSSP should indicate their need when they submit their application by ticking the appropriate box on the on-line submission form.

For further information please contact Dr Nyovani Madise (N.J.Madise@soton.ac.uk).