Gender sstatistics needs serious attention
Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot

Accra, Jan 26m Ghanadot - Statistics and indicators on gender are needed for informed decision making and monitoring of programmes on the African continent. Even though governments over the years have invested many resources into the production of statistical data, many areas still remain untouched.

The gender statisticians are therefore grappling with the problems associated with the production and use of gender statistics including data gaps. The gaps greatly limit the usefulness of the few indicators now available on gender statistics.

At the opening of the 2nd Global Forum on Gender Statistics in Accra, the Vice President, Mr. John Mahama, announced that the government of Ghana would strive to empower women and to assist the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Ghana to produce quality statistics with the required disaggregation by gender. This to him, will improve the quality and access to data as well as enhancing the capacity of statistical institutions in the country.

The forum, which picked up from the fourth International World Conference on Women, Beijing in 1995, seeks to recover the momentum that brought statistics to the centre of international debate. Looking back to those years, many of us will recall the variety of statistical publications that highlighted the relative situation of women and men produced during the late 1980s and the early 1990s.

The Government Statistician, Dr. Grace Bediako, stated that the forum is an important mechanism to bridge the gap between regions and countries in the area of statistics. The forum, she notedk should ensure that it can continue. The biggest responsibility for [proper development gender statistics has to fall on the statisticians..

Sometimes, statisticians, have responded well to the demands of their users, but not necessarily conscientiously or systematically. They need to review their performance to see if they could not have done more.

 

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