This Innovation has supported inclusive governance by building capacity among different groups to use data, and forged closer ties between VBoS and decision-makers. It has provided a platform for stakeholders to share ideas on how to use data to improve public service delivery in a context where the interaction between parliament and the statistics office has been historically minimal. For the first time, an array of key stakeholders participated in discussions to enhance co-ordination between data producers and users. As the highest level of oversight in the country, this innovation has focused on building Parliaments combined individual, organisational, and system-level capacity to utilise trusted statistics for good governance. It is the first time that constituency profiles and evidence-based policy briefs, aligned to Vanuatu’s NSDP have been developed by VBoS. Making data usable for MPs has been an investment in governance, better public services, and more sustainable development.

After implementing 7 briefings with MPs and 14 trainings for PCS on data use for decision-making, the VBoS is taking stock of the successes of the initiative to scale-up engagement with Parliament. The VBoS conducted a pre & post assessment to measure PCS progress. The results of this showed an increase in scores against all 17 learning objectives. Additionally, an evaluation was held with the project’s steering committee, they fully endorsed VBoS innovation in trying to analyse government spending to monitor the impact of investment. Finally, the VBoS held a workshop to identify lessons learned with the MPs and parliamentary civil servants to build on our experience and gather information to increase the effectiveness of the next phase. This phase will include the finalisation of Vanuatu’s first digital open indicator tracking platform that will highlight key performance indicators to be used by Parliament to measure the quality and coverage of public service delivery.

The VBoS is a lead data producer in the country and is legally mandated to provide leadership on statistics. Parliament controls and guides the government of Vanuatu. The Department of Strategic Policy & Planning leads on the NSDP and makes key recommendations to government on issues affecting public services. PARIS21 specialises in technical support for statistical capacity development. The Inter-Parliamentary Union empowers parliaments globally to promote sustainable development.

The statistical capacity of MPs and the PCS that serve them was enhanced to effectively utilise trusted statistics for decision-making. Dialogue between data producers and users was strengthened through targeted engagement, creating a policy, and enabling environment. The development of useful data products including policy briefs and constituency indicator profiles have helped to raise awareness and build trust in statistics to effectively encourage data use and inform public policy debate.

MPs and Parliamentary Civil Servants (PCS) have enhanced their skills to use data for decision-making. Their awareness about the importance of data and the statistical system has been significantly increased too. This has been shown by the interest to scale-up the initiative and VBoS being invited to speak in Parliament for the first time. Additionally, participating MPs used VBoS data to gazette a parliamentary bill increasing import duties on products related to noncommunicable diseases. The VBoS conducted a pre and post assessment to measure PCS progress. The results of this showed an increase in scores against 17 learning objectives. With the growing interest in data use by MPs and PCS, we expect to advance data literacy in Parliament and across Ministries. The initiative has also brought a greater appreciation to the work VBoS and the National Statistics System are doing, and we expect to get Parliament support for statistical activities in the future, including an improved budget.

Despite the efforts VBoS and other ministries put into producing statistics, there are still data gaps that hinder its use for policy making. This has resulted in Parliamentarians not having all the information they need. The shortage of certain data has created misunderstandings and low appreciation of the Statistical System in Vanuatu. The main challenge in this innovation was reconnecting with Parliament and building trust in statistics. The first group of MPs trained represent only a tenth of all MPs, highlighting the difficulties to secure Parliament interest in data production and use for evidence-based decision-making. However, thanks to the success of the first phase of the innovation, there has been increased interest from Parliament to join the initiative and VBoS has been invited to present the aims of the programme to all MPs. With this heightened support to statistics, VBoS is also working with data producers and users to reduce data gaps in the longer term.

Key to the success of this innovation has been the willingness of stakeholders to promote the uptake of statistics for improved decision-making. The Clerk of Parliament embodied this by championing the project, his leadership and guidance has been essential to its success. A strong partnership between the Clerk and VBoS was formed through enhanced engagements throughout the project. The interest of Parliament in furthering their capacity in the use of data for decision-making was also key. The collaborative design of this innovation ensured that it represented the needs of Parliament. The success of the design was corroborated by high levels of attendance by MPs and PCS during training. Aside from a strong motivation by VBoS, the innovation also received technical and financial support from PARIS21. The financial resources ensured quality engagement with stakeholders including meetings with MPs and PCS, and the technical support enabled the development of targeted training materials.

This innovation has caught the attention of other national statistics offices who are trying to promote data use for policy makers. The Vanuatu example has been presented in international fora, and PARIS21 is developing training materials inspired by the first phase of the innovation that will be used across countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The innovation is highly replicable and will have a positive effect in building the capacity of the people with the highest level of decision-making power in a country. The materials used to train MPs and parliamentary civil servants can also be used to build the capacity of other key stakeholders. In the next phase of the initiative, we will use these materials to strengthen government agencies to use data for decision-making with the ultimate aim of improving the quality and coverage of public services through trusted statistics.

The innovation was co-created with key stakeholders. This targeted engagement was essential in establishing stakeholder buy-in and developing champions including the Clerk of Parliament to help drive the innovation. To establish a programme design representative of the needs of Parliament, assessments that identified the capacity gaps related to finding, interpreting, and using trusted statistic for decision-making were also essential. The assessments ensured the content of training sessions for MPs and parliamentary civil servants was sufficiently targeted to enable meaningful results. To address the capacity gaps in Parliament identified by the assessments, the products developed by project partners were aligned to the key functions of Parliamentarians- legislation, representation, budgetary and oversight. This ensured that the innovation integrated into the Parliamentary system, and improved MPs ability to fulfil their roles effectively.