Institutional Arrangements and Early Champions: Effective institutional arrangements rollout, tailored to suit The Gambia’s local dynamics, played a crucial role in the GamSR’s success. Utilizing existing government institutions, such as the Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS) for data collection and coordination, and the Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure for public information campaigns, facilitated an inclusive development process reflecting the diverse needs and perspectives of stakeholders. Early involvement and ownership by high-level government officials provided the necessary impetus and financial backing for the project. Despite successes, challenges arose in rolling out GamSR through government institutions, highlighting the complexities of internal coordination and enforcement.
The GamSR’s acceleration enabled by technology: Swift progress was propelled by technological innovations like computer-assisted personal identification (CAPI) tools and the development of a Social Registry Information System (SRIS), revolutionizing survey management with automated operations, robust data quality checks, and a “send-back-to-supervisor” mechanism for data rectification. Although challenges persist in reaching remote populations, ensuring data accuracy in diverse contexts, expanding infrastructure, prioritizing community engagement and communication, leveraging partnerships, and fostering a data-secure environment are all crucial steps to unlock technology’s full potential.
Adapting to diverse environments: In The Gambia, differentiating urban from rural contexts presented challenges in data collection. Addressing respondent fatigue with local solutions is essential for the success of data collection efforts.
In conclusion, the GamSR’s swift establishment and effective utilization is an African success story in social protection systems. Its journey offers valuable lessons for improved policy decision-making to support the poor and vulnerable in the Gambia and serves as a model for transformative systems building globally.
Credit: Source link