UNDP and OFID launch Arab Development Portal

Amman, Jordan, April 26, 2016. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) have launched the Arab Development Portal (ADP), an open, one-stop, online knowledge platform providing timely data and information on development in the Arab region.

The ADP is a joint collaboration between UNDP and the Coordination Group of Arab National and Regional Development Institutions, the Islamic Development Bank and OFID. It was conceived to address current data gaps and produce a tool that is publicly accessible to a wide range of end-users, from policy-makers to entrepreneurs and journalists.

According to Sima Bahous, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States, the ADP represents a valuable instrument for delivering on the challenges of the 2030 Global Agenda for Sustainable Development. “Supporting evidence-based policy-making by improving access to data and building capacities for monitoring and evaluating are pivotal to the success of the new agenda,” she stated.

Reflecting on the development of the portal, OFID Director-General Suleiman J Al-Herbish said that its realization would have been impossible without the close collaboration of all partners. “The ADP is a clear example of how joint initiatives can harness the power of data with low cost information technologies to scale-up development impact,” he said.

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 2,750 indicators extracted from national statistical offices and 400 additional indicators extracted from international organizations. Its resource repository is home to over 1,000 publications.

The launch of the portal follows the signature of a new three-year agreement between OFID and UNDP that will expand the scope of the portal through the consolidation of datasets from different sources and the production of descriptive statistical analyses and 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.

The launch ceremony is being followed by a three-day regional workshop—The Sustainable Development Goals in the Arab Region—which will bring together representatives from national statistical offices, leading regional experts, partner development agencies and civil society organizations to identify the mechanisms, tools and resources needed to implement this ambitious agenda.

For further information, please contact: Farah Choucair Arab Development Portal Research Coordinator United National Development Program 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; the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa; the Arab Gulf Program for Development; the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development; the Arab Monetary Fund; the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development; the Islamic Development Bank; the Qatar Development Fund; and the Saudi Fund for Development.

The Coordination Group periodically holds consultative meetings with beneficiary countries to discuss their development plans with a view to enhancing coordination and increasing the effectiveness of development interventions. Such meetings often conclude by approving financing for projects given priority in the country plans. Collectively, the Group has provided over 5,000 public sector development loans to over 130 countries.