OFID and UNDP collaborate to launch the Arab Development Portal in 2016

Vienna, Austria, January 18, 2016. The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed a new three-year partnership agreement to reinforce their collaborative effort on producing the Arab Development Portal (ADP). Initiated by the Arab Coordination Group (CG), the ADP is a comprehensive, one-stop-shop knowledge resource that aims to improve the scope, depth, reliability, availability and use of high quality development information to support development progress in the Arab World. The ADP will go live in the first quarter of 2016.

“Data and knowledge resources on development issues in the Arab World are often outdated, of irregular reliability, and fragmented across multiple international, regional and local sources,” said Sima Bahous, UN Assistant Secretary-General, and UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director of the Regional Bureau of Arab States. “Over the past three years, we have worked closely with the Coordination Group, to address these gaps. And, we are happy to be collaborating now on the final stages of the Arab Development Portal before going live this year.”

OFID Director-General Mr Suleiman J. Al-Herbish welcomed the signing of the agreement. “The development of the ADP has been a long and complex process that would have been impossible without the close collaboration of all partners. We are delighted to see our joint efforts finally coming to fruition, especially at such an important time for the global development agenda. The portal will, without doubt, be a much-needed and valuable resource.”

The ADP is a bilingual—Arabic and English—online knowledge platform that includes a unique database, advanced tools for data browsing, extraction and visualization; and a rich pool of other resources, covering eleven key development topics across all Arab countries. Its database contains more than 4,400 indicators extracted from national statistical offices and 400 additional indicators extracted from international organizations. Its resource repository is home to over 1,000 publications.

Starting in April 2013 and 2014, respectively, the first two phases of the CG-UNDP collaboration on the ADP included a series of consultations with potential end-users to build a grounded understanding of their knowledge needs, data gaps, and the opportunity cost that businesses and other beneficiaries incur due to these gaps. The basic prototype of the ADP was developed accordingly and subsequently further enriched to its current form. The primary target audiences for the ADP include decision-makers in the public sector, private sector, academia, media and civil society with an active interest in development efforts in the Arab World. The World Bank was also involved in the first two phases of the ADP’s development.

In addition to launching the ADP, Phase III of the OFID-UNDP collaboration will expand the scope of the portal through the consolidation of datasets from different sources and the production of descriptive statistical analyses & enhanced visualization tools. This phase will also enhance data harmonization and standardization across different sources including the national statistical offices and will embed the database with a tracking tool for the recently adopted 2030 Global Development Agenda.

For further information, please contact: Farah Choucair Arab Development Portal Research Coordinator United National Development Programme Phone: +9613918672 Email: farah.choucair@undp.org

About UNDP

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

About OFID

The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) is the development finance institution established by the Member States of OPEC in 1976 as a collective channel of aid to the developing countries. OFID works in cooperation with developing country partners and the international donor community to stimulate economic growth and alleviate poverty in all disadvantaged regions of the world. It does this by providing financing to build essential infrastructure that meets basic needs—such as food, energy, clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education—and works to promote productivity, competitiveness and trade.

About the Arab Coordination Group

The Coordination Group is a policy and operational alliance among a number of Arab national and regional development institutions, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), as well as their subsidiaries and special programs. Established in 1975, the Group currently has 10 member institutions, which, in addition to OFID, include: the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD); the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA); the Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND); the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD); the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF); the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED); the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB); the Qatar Development Fund; and the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD). The Coordination Group periodically holds consultative meetings with beneficiary countries to discuss their development plans with a view to enhance coordination and increase the effectiveness of development interventions. Such meetings often conclude by approving financing for projects given priority in the country plans. The CG has collectively provided over 5,000 public sector development loans to over 130 countries.