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Data Resources for Development Issues for Africa (AFS 366W/ECON 366W)

Major Data Archives

Harvard Dataverse Network (DVN)
https://dataverse.harvard.edu/
Harvard's Dataverse Network is an eclectic collection of datasets and data collections, ranging from replication datasets from articles to institutional data collections. Many development NGO's and research organizations use Dataverse, including the Jameel Poverty Action Lab, Population Services International, the International Food Policy Research Institute, and the Center for Global Development. Dataverse also hosts more esoteric, specialized data collections, such as this collection of data on financial inclusion and access in Kenya and replication archives for academic journals.

Open Data for Africa
http://opendataforafrica.org/
Open Data for Africa is an interface for accessing and download data from the African Development Bank Group. The interface has a data catalog that will let you search/filter indicators by topics, sources, regions, or keyword searches. There are also various options for visualizing tables of data.

UNData
http://data.un.org/
UNData, which is available from the United Nations Statistical Division, is a portal for extracts of data compiled by various United Nations agencies and by other international organizations such as the World Tourism Organization and the International Telecommunications Union. UNData is a replacement for the old UN Common Database.

United Nations Human Development Reports (HDR)
http://hdr.undp.org/
The HDR is an annual report from the United Nations that scores and rank countries on various indicators of "development" broadly defined. The current incarnation of the HDR provides access to both past and present reports and a variety of tools for visualization and downloading of HDR data and statistics. For additional visualization of development-related indicators, see Gapminder. Data from some earlier reports are available via Carleton University's Country Indicators for Foreign Policy site.

United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Indicators
http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Default.aspx
The Millennium Development Goals are a set of goals devised by the international community and whose achievement is meant to result in improved quality of life and well-being for residents of the poorest countries in the world. The indicators for the MDG include measures such as child mortality, literacy, HIV prevalence, sanitation, and debt relief. The site also provides links to other MDG resources such as regional sites and country reports. In addition to this MDG site hosted by the United Nations, data and tables on the Millennium Development Goals are also available from the World Bank.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Indicators
https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/
The Sustainable Development Goals are a more extensive and ambitious follow-up to the Millennium Development Goals. This SDG site provides access to both data and reports on SDG indicators as a means of tracking progress towards attainment of the individual goals. In addition to this SDG site hosted by the United Nations, data and tables on the Sustainable Development Goals are also available from the World Bank.

World Development Indicators (World Bank)
https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/world-development-indicators
The World Development Indicators provide convenient access to hundreds indicators on over 200 countries and territories. Data are available annually from 1960 forward, with variation across countries and indicators. The database is part of the Bank's Data Catalog of statistical databases and other data collections. The WDI is also accessible via Databases at Emory and on CD-ROM in the Data Center. There are also multiples tools available for importing WDI data directly into programs such as R and Stata.

World Bank Data Catalog
https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/
As part of its Open Data Initative, the World Bank has opened up access to dozens of its data collections and compiled into a single data catalog. The holdings here range from larger databases covering multiple topics to more narrowly-focused collections associated with particular research projects. You can also search for World Bank data by country or by looking for specific indicators.

Data Resources for International Development
https://guides.libraries.emory.edu/main/EDC_DEVEL
A compilation of commonly-used data resources for both macro-level development indicators (e.g. health measures, education attainment, economic indicators) and micro-level data on individuals and households (e.g. health surveys, demographic surveys, population censuses and labor-force surveys).