Working Group On Gender Statistics Begins Work

The Gender Statistics Working Group (GSWG) of the Ghana Statistical Service has launched its first technical meeting, aimed at bridging the data gap required for development-oriented decision making.

The Group as part of its target will strengthen and address policy gaps and improve upon development programmes directed at dealing with gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Programmes to be monitored will include the Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS), the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other conventions and protocols signed by the country for monitoring and evaluation.

It is made up of experts in the field of gender and statistics from civil society, national statistical organisations, gender training centres and development partners.

Mrs. Benedicta Quame, an Economic Planning Officer of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, at the ceremony stated that the meeting will provide a platform for stakeholders as well as partners to discuss issues related to the development of gender statistics and indicators for monitoring.

“The GSWP will also strengthen the efforts of the National Advisory Committee of Producers and Users of Statistics (NACPUS) to address policies and programmes initiated by government and other stakeholders who deal with gender equality, women’s empowerment, orphanages, homelessness and persons on the street.

“These conferences will focus on the need for gender-specific data as a necessary starting point for any programme aimed at advancing the cause of women.” she explained.

Mrs. Quame urged members of the Group to develop appropriate mechanisms that will facilitate mainstreaming gender statistics in concepts, methods of data collection, processing, analysing and dissemination of statistics.

Government Statistician Dr. Grace Bediako, speaking on the theme ‘Gender Mainstreaming for Equitable Development’, expressed the need to improve statistics and indicators concerning women as first recognised internationally by the World Conference of Women held in Mexico City.

She said part of its aims was to inform the International Community of the prevalence of discrimination against women in most parts of the world.

“Launching of the GSWG consolidates all earlier initiatives at international and national levels, and also provides further sensitisation on the role and importance of gender statistical information in managing development-oriented results.

“The third and fourth world conferences on women, which took place in Nairobi, Kenya in 1985 and Beijing, China in 1995 respectively, recognised that different policies, programmes and actions have not impacted on gender equality,” Dr. Bediako remarked.