Vice-President of the republic of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has underscored the importance data plays in development and urged governments to provide resources for its collection.

Addressing participants at the Ghana's data roadmap forum Dr. Bawumia noted that, the country-level commitments to the SDGs will not be feasible without fast-tracking the data revolution to provide the right information at the right time that is universally accessible to all.

Ghana’s attainment of its SDG goals will be critically underpinned by a robust data regime that is collectively supported by all partners, including the private sector, academia, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral institutions in a harmonized manner.

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The amount of data churned out on a daily basis is progressively increasing, with constantly evolving technologies for data collection, analysis and communication, it becomes our shared responsibility to galvanize towards harnessing this revolution for the betterment of our citizens.

Dr.Bawumiah expressed that the SDGs mark a watershed moment in the history of statistics, propelling and bringing statistics to the very core of development. Now, statistics has moved from being a simple tool for progress monitoring and evaluation, to becoming a key driver of development programs.

To the call to Leave No One Behind on which Agenda 2030 is premised, we must produce more and better information on the lived realities of women and men, boys and girls to root out gender inequalities and begin to address structural discrimination that undermine women and men’s progress in Ghana, he explained.

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He also said “Addressing Data Gaps”, measures will be put in place to ensure that Ghana will fulfill its global reporting requirements as well as generate relevant data to improve Ghanaian lives.

“Encouraging Data Use” which was the second theme made it known to the guests that his can only be achieved when data producers and users engage in an iterative feedback loop, ensuring that data produced matches user needs.

The third theme of the Forum “Strengthening the Data Ecosystem” acknowledges that the traditional National Statistical System, comprising GSS and selected Ministries, Departments and Agencies, alone will not be able to produce all of the data required for the SDGs, and for other national and regional agendas to which Ghana is committed.

It is important to stress that this Roadmap is not a document that we will produce by the end of this week, month, or year. Rather it will be a living process that will continue to evolve until 2030 and will require ongoing concerted efforts from us all.

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The forum has brought together data producers, data users and policy makers from Europe and  Africa, as well as representatives of various ministries, departments and agencies (MMDAs) in the country to chart a road map for sustainable development in the country.