I just googled post 2015 governance indicators to make sure I'm keeping up with all the latest on this topic. Wow. Lots and lots to catch up on. Meetings all over the world involving many many organizations and people, from the UN-this and the UN-that, development org-this and development-org that. Not to mention all the bilateral organizations (they can't miss out) and the independent consultants (who are usually not that independent, given the financing of their flights) and now and again some government officials from developing countries. Oh, I should not forget the Eminent Persons Groups, High Level Officials, and other 'most important people who we should listen to very carefully'.
What does all the meeting and negotiation and engagement and travel and dining and chatting and calling and skyping and videoconferencing and otherwise chinwagging cost?
And why is this cost acceptable?
Reading Morten Jerven's book on statistics in Africa (Poor Numbers) makes me think that BEFORE we spend loads of cash on these kinds of development-community-reinforcing-activities we should actually be financing better statistical processes in the developing world (so that if we do have global or regional or country level or local indicators they actually mean something).
But maybe I'm just in a Monday mood.
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