Africa-Press – Lesotho. The government of Lesotho with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union (EU) revealed results of the Lesotho Data for Sustainable
Development project. The Lesotho Data for Sustainable Development project aimed at assisting the government of Lesotho in collection, analysis and dissemination of development data and
building institutional and technical capacities for monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and effective public management system. It was funded
by European Union (EU) with US$1.2 million and the UNDP with a contribution of US$240 000. Speaking during the project evaluation meeting UNDP Representative Limomane Peshoane
explained that the project evaluation would also provide evidence and lessons on design, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and partnerships that may
be useful in design and management of similar projects in the future. “Evaluations should be used for learning, accountability and to improve national evaluation capacities, to enhance
progress towards the sustainable development goals. The UNDP evaluation policy recommends that evaluation methodologies and results should be shared with
stakeholders to maintain credibility of the process and enhance utility of such,” he said. He further noted that the key findings for Lesotho Data for Sustainable
Development project was highly relevant to the needs of Lesotho on data for development and results-based management. “The project was moderately effective
primarily due to its ambitious scope and objectives not matched with time and resources available,” he said. According to Peshoane the project also created awareness
of the data weaknesses in Lesotho and also made the country take initial steps in addressing such gaps therefore establishing the processes for the establishment of an ecosystem for statistics and monitoring and evaluation
although still at very nascent stages. Ministry of Development Planning Director Department of Monitoring and Evaluation ‘Malefu Khanyapa on behalf of the
Ministry’s Principal Secretary said the project came following the ministry’s realization of the challenges faced by the country with regards to the availability of data and information for decision and policy-making, monitoring
and evaluation. Its overall goal she mentioned is to strengthen the national and sectoral capacities to generate and utilize data, facilitate accountability for resources and advocacy for evidence based
planning results. Khanyapa also mentioned the project was expected to define areas and tools for measuring development progress, promote literacy and innovations for data collection,
dissemination and use. To also strengthen national and sectoral coordination and encourage institutional and technical participation for data collection,
dissemination and usage. Among the activities that were achieved through the project she pointed the capacity assessment of the national statistical and monitoring & evaluation system,
data gap analysis for national and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) monitoring and the capacity development plan. Meanwhile Ministry of Development Planning Chief Statistician Tšepiso Thabane also put
more emphasis on the achievements, mentioning the capacity deployment of assistant statisticians to six ministries. ”The capacity development activities
such as study tours and various trainings offered to Bureau of Statistics (BOS) and department of monitoring evaluation as well as Ministries and Development
Agencies (MDAs) of the project laid the foundation to contribute towards improved use of data usage in decision making, policy formulation and planning in the future,” she added.
