Comparing Social Protection Information Systems in Mali, Mauritania, and Niger

The overview is based on three background case studies, conducted via in person Key Informant Interviews and document review over the course of 2022. [...] • In Mali, as of the new 2022 decree, the RSU is to be housed within the National Directorate for Social Protection and the Solidarity Economy (DNPSES)6, (having considered and decided against the creation of an autonomous Agency. [...] Niger18 The broader data ecosystem: interoperability and/or data sharing Interoperability and structured sharing of data across different government (and non-government) information systems is still nascent across the three countries, as summarised in Figure 7. [...] An ad-hoc Questionnaire was created for this and a database of some 10,000 HHs generated (9,000 of which were deemed eligible for immediate support), with data linked to the RSU. [...] In Niger, lack of use is understandable, 8 Note that, at the time, RSU did not yet have data for HHs in Nouakchott. [...] It is also essential to think through users and uses of the data comprehensively. [...] • The attempt to develop modularity into the questionnaire, ongoing in Niger, where the 11 Section and 248 variable current questionnaire is being drastically reduced to a version based on the usefulness for targeting of user programmes and the prioritisation of variables that do not become swiftly obsolete. [...] It should be noted that frequent shifts in the questionnaire used and differences in data collection across key actors sharing data pose a risk to consistency and usefulness of data overall. [...] Ultimately, coverage of the data should be commensurate to the ambition in terms of supporting populations in need: storing data for years with no intention to use it for programming purposes not only has a high cost but is also problematic from a data protection perspective and creates unmet expectations. “Strategic coverage” thus depends on expected data uses, and hinges heavily on how natio [...] • Mauritania is one of several jurisdictions to have signed but not yet ratified the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection • Data protection provisions in data sharing agreements • Security by design guarantees in place but extent not assessed.