Scientific workshop and public conference in Bamako

— Comparing three different approaches to measuring governance and democracy in Mali

Comparing strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to measuring human rights, governance and democracy is one of the main objectives of Metagora. This objective materialized for the first time in an event co-organized with the Partner Implementing Organization DIAL and IRD on 11 and 12 June 2004 in Mali's capital Bamako.

The first day consisted in a scientific workshop (15 participants) which gathered the stakeholders involved in the production of

Comparing different survey methodologies

3 independent household surveys on democracy, governance and poverty (UNECA, DIAL-Afristat, Afrobarometer) conducted in Mali between 2001 and 2002. The discussions aimed at exchanging expert opinions on the 3 methodologies, comparing the results, the difficulties encountered and making suggestions in order to improve the credibility of each tool.

Mali is one of the very few countries in which three different regional quantitative studies of democracy, governance and poverty had been carried out independently. In the preparation of the workshop, local representatives of each initiative had prepared two documents: a) a report on the methodology and the Malian results of their specific survey, and b) a presentation comparing the results of the three surveys in the three specific fields of democracy, governance and poverty:
Mr K. Sidibe: Results and methodology of the UNECA-survey (français; .pdf, 347 kB)
Mr M. Sako: Results and methodology of the 1-2-3-survey (français; .pdf, 292 kB)
Mr M. Coulibaly: Results and methodology of the Afrobarometer (français; .pdf, kB)

Mr K. Sidibe: Governance in Mali (français; .pdf, 386 kB)
Mr M. Sako: Democracy in Mali (français; .pdf, 164 kB)
Mr M. Coulibaly: Poverty in Mali (français; .pdf, 506 kB)

These documents served as a basis for the fruitful and open discussions in the scientific workshop. The participants identified several characteristics common to all three initiatives:
a) The three instruments are relatively standardised tools developed at regional level and aiming at comparison across countries and over time;
b) they are implemented by local partners;
c) the three surveys allow for a confrontation of perceptions and objective facts ("soft" and "hard" data)
d) one of the most interesting uses of household surveys is to enable comparisons between rural/urban, educated/non educated people, rich/poor (Afrobarometer, 1-2-3 surveys)

On the other hand, the three approaches also show several discrepancies:
a) Different sample size and target groups;
b) different objectives for each tool;
c) different primary objective: UNECA: political economy; Afrobarometer: public opinon; 1-2-3 surveys: socio-economy;
d) different producers (research institutes, statistic office, private polling institute);
e) different approach to measure the income. 1-2-3 survey has the most reliable and comprehensive method as first of all it is a socio-economic survey.

However, these differences were not perceived as a problem. On the contrary: The fact that three different methodologies lead to very similar results can be seen as a validation of the three different tools discussed.

Discussing the results in public

The second day of the event was dedicated to the presentation of the results to a wider audience, presenting and discussing the results with policy makers, the media, donor agencies, research institutes and civil society representatives in a public conference (about 150 participants in the Centre Djoliba). The reactions to and discussions about the three presentations discussed in the workshop showed an overwhelming interest of the public in quantitative figures about democracy, governance and poverty. Some interventions also underlined the fact that, through comparison of three different approaches, the generated results enjoy an increased credibility.

The afternoon of the event widened the focus, embedding the results of Mali in the overall tendencies on the whole continent. Afrobarometer (english; .pps, 593 kB) and Metagora-partner DIAL (français; .pdf, 296 kB) compared in their presentations the numbers of Mali with the data gathered in other African countries.