Economic Empowerment
Dr Philomena Nyarko, Acting Government Statistician, on Tuesday said it was important for the country to draw on the assets and skills of women for socio-economic development.
“The true resilience, stability and economic development that we all hope for cannot be achieved if the potential of our country’s population is not fully utilized, especially given the inadequate economic opportunities for both men and women”, she said.
Dr Nyarko was speaking at a seminar on gender statistics organized by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to mark the African Statistical Day.
The Day, which is commemorated by statistical authorities in Africa, was adopted in May 1990 during the 25th Session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Sixteenth Meeting of African Ministers responsible for Economic Planning and Development to be celebrated each year to increase public awareness about the important role which statistics play in all aspects of social and economic life on the continent.
The theme for the 2012 celebration is: Making every Woman and Man Count: Engendering Statistics for Better Development Outcome.
The theme highlights the importance of the production and use of Gender Statistics in the development of the nation and it underscores the significance of the contribution of women and men as one of the main pillars in the Strategy for Harmonization of Statistics in Africa.
Dr Nyarko expressed the hope that those working within the National Statistics System would find ways to join forces to promote the production and dissemination of gender-based statistics to guide decisions that enhanced women’s economic empowerment.
“I would like to mention the strong collaboration between the GSS and the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, the National Development Planning Commission, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, Canadian Development Agency and the United Nations Children’s Fund in the production and use of gender-based statistics in Ghana”, she said.
On the African Statistics Day, Dr Nyarko said it created the greater awareness about the role and importance of statistics in the lives of the citizenry.
She said accurate, reliable and timely gender-based statistics was crucial for effective planning if the citizenry could find themselves in an environment that supported the development of their capacity to access opportunities and resources as well as contribute towards the country’s decision-making process.
The African Statistics Day Celebration this year, aims to highlight the need for African countries including Ghana, to do more to improve the collection, management and use of Sex Disaggregated Data and gender disaggregated data for national development.