Garth Thomson // March 10th 2014
With the completion of individual EITI country reports, the class has now transitioned focus to the EITI in Mongolia (MEITI). The MEITI reconciliation reports are complex documents encompassing a broad range of issues. Our team’s first challenge is to review the data available and identify a manageable scope of issues that we can effectively tackle throughout the remainder of the term.
Brainstorming sessions in class, followed by a flurry of email activity through the week, have indicated that the MEITI is a complex reporting framework with many potential areas of focus. Given our own team’s difficulty in defining a single problem to tackle, it would appear that similar challenges are likely experienced by those consuming the reports in Mongolia.
The MEITI reports are comprehensive reporting documents but are not easily absorbed, especially by those who lack a firm background in the issues addressed. Identifying the most important segments of the report, and turning them into a summary document easily digested any Mongolian who may be interested in the country’s extractive sector is an ideal outcome.
In order to pinpoint what these key issues are, the team intends to contact in-country stakeholders who can lend their insight. By surveying a range of Mongolian stakeholders, we will attempt to identify which segments of MEITI are most valuable to the people on the ground.
Now, to distill this for civic society…
The most suitable communication platform for the distribution of this data will also be addressed by our team. In order for the MEITI data to be effectively consumed, it must be easily available to a wide range of interested stakeholders.
Nigerias EITI Report Visualized
The team has reviewed low-cost mass-communication platforms such as printed pamphlets or radio, and will further refine a communication strategy with the best potential for widespread penetration at the course progresses.