The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in collaboration with the Office of the Head of Civil Service has organised a high-level engagement with the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and other agencies.
The others are; Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and the National Statistics Advisory Committee (NSAC)
The engagements took place in Accra from 6th to 7th January 2024.
The purpose of the two-day meeting was to establish a national data partnership and develop a roadmap to ensure a coordinated process of producing data, statistics, and policies for national development.
“The initiative is engendered by the efforts of the Statistical Service and the Office of the Head of Civil Service to strengthen the capacity of the National Statistical System and support the alignment of policies, statistics, information, and research across key government institutions as well as the private sectors and development partner community.
“This meeting was thus the first of proposed regular engagements with the Chief Directors of MDAs, NDPC, and NSAC to unlock the dividends of the power of data for national and livelihood transformation,” a press release issued by the Ghana Statistical Service explained.
At the end of the meeting, it was agreed to, “Initiate the national data partnership through the signing of Memorandums of Understanding, micro data sharing, mapping of sector statistical indicators, and use of metadata for all statistical and policy exercises, jointly develop a national strategy for the development of statistics, and deploy a competency framework that would inform recruitment, retention, and promotion of staff within the national statistical system.”
“Highlights of the discussions included deliberations on how capacity is built and sustained in the statistical ecosystem and an assessment of the 70:20:10 learning principle which recommends a combination of structured training (70%), informal learning on the job (20%), and entry qualification (10%),” the release stated.
Participants at the meeting included; Dr. Grace Bediako, the Chair of the GSS Board, Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, the Government Statistician. Dr. Evans Aggrey-Darkoh, the Head of the Civil Service, Dr. Claire Melamed, the CEO of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD); Ms. Vibeke O. Nielsen, the Inter-Regional Advisor for Statistics Training and Capacity Building, United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD); Ms. Angela Lusigi, the Resident Representative for United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and Dr. Johannes Jutting, the Executive Head of PARIS21.