MUHAMMED AWAL, RESEARCH Officer at the Center for Democratic Development CDD-Ghana has expressed worry over the bureaucracy in most of the public institutions especially the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
He says this kind of bureaucracy hinders access to information for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in their quest to embark on credible data collection.
He was speaking at a workshop organized by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) On the theme; Informing and Empowering Citizens for Change.
He revealed that, the challenges faced at the industrial level includes lack of institutional capacity to collect data. He cited Urban water coverage extension services, delay in production of data, as well as bureaucratic and political factors like delay of educational data because of elections and unfriendly format of data received -usually in pdf format.
He said in order to have a credible data system, the state actors like Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have to understand how data can be used.
Mr. Joseph Connor, Ashanti Regional Economic Planning Officer, speaking on the role of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) said data is very critical when an informed decision is to be taken.
Touching on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he explained that they form an integral part of the long term plan from (2018-2057) and that access to reliable and usable data will be essential in monitoring the country’s progress in their achievement.
He entreated the CSOs to move down to the districts and get the necessary data and also assured them that the Regional Coordinating Councils are always available to support them.
Mr. Kobina Abaka Ansah, Ashanti regional Statistician was also impressed with the programme and was particularly happy that it touched on the essence of data gathering and sharing to the achievement of the SDGs.
Rikke Sig Hansen, Coordinator, Civil Society Platform on SDGs disclosed that, the aim and purpose of the workshop was to share ideas to collectively prepare credible data in order to enable decision makers make informed decisions that benefit the people.
