In collaboration with the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Group Office (UNDGO), UNESCWA is organizing a regional training workshop on “DevInfo v5.0” in Cairo from 18 to 22 September 2006. The meeting, which is the third in a series of regional activities on “DevInfo”, is hosted by the Information and Decision Support Center, 1 Magless Al Shaab Street.

“DevInfo” is a tool designed to support governments in monitoring the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and can be adapted to include additional user-defined indicators that are linked to key national monitoring frameworks. This software offers a cost-free and effective solution to address the needs of UN agencies and national partners to set up MDGs based information management system. This new version, which was released in May 2006, offers a range of new tools and features including a fully web-enabled version for effective dissemination and presentation of MDGs and human development indicators.

The workshop, which opens at 9:00 am next Monday, is geared towards the countries that have started work on this tool to benefit from the upgraded version of the software. The training workshop is expected to build a pool of regional trainers who can facilitate in-country training at the national level.

Participants will receive training on the new features and tools of the “Users” and “Database Administration” interfaces. They will share experiences gained and lessons learned in customizing and implementing DevInfo at the national level. Each participating country will then be asked to make a brief presentation on the current status and future plans with respect to “DevInfo”.