By Kamal Ahmed
Koforidua (E/R), July 1, GNA – Dr Owusu Kagya, the Director of Business, Industry, and Trade Statistics Directorate, Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), said Ghana will be doing guesswork if duty-bearers’ decisions are not backed by scientific data.
“If you cannot measure, you cannot manage, so we will not be able to effectively manage the myriads of challenges we face as a country if we do not rely on official statistical information,” he said.
Dr Kagya was speaking on the sidelines of a two-day workshop organised by the GSS for journalists and civil society organisations (CSOs) at Koforidua on the use of Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Reports and the Service’s online StatsBank for informed decision-making.
He urged the participants to use the MPI reports and StatsBank to enhance their advocacy and reporting efforts and hold duty-bearers accountable.
He said the media and CSOs had to comprehend the data so that they may raise questions and hold duty-bearers accountable.
“If we effectively and consciously use the MPI reports and the StatsBank, the country [Ghana] would go far because it would help in well-informed decision-making and policies,” he said.
The workshop brought together journalists and civil society organisations from the Eastern, Volta, and Oti regions.
Participants were trained on how to interpret and utilise data from the Multidimensional Poverty Index Reports, which provides a comprehensive picture of poverty levels across Ghana’s 261 metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies.
Drawing on the initiatives and policies that influence communities, Dr Kagya emphasised the crucial role that data played in decision-making, illustrating instances where data could inform community-impacting programmes and policies.
GNA