Data critical to national development

Assistant Finance and Development Planning Minister Benedict Kolubah says data is critical to the implementation of major policy decisions by government and sets a baseline to ensuring that Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators are properly tracked and monitored, reflecting current realities of a country context.

Mr. Kolubah was speaking in Ganta, Nimba recently during a six – day training of over 75 senior and middle level technicians from Line Ministries and Agencies involved in data collection and analysis with the aim of building and improving their statistical capacities within the framework of the Government’s Pro-Poor Agenda.
A press release says Assistant Minister Kolubah noted that the Government of Liberia is committed to ensuring that the livelihood of its people is improved at an appreciable level.

According to Mr. Kolubah, the Government is also committed to the full implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has identified five sectors that are aligned with 11 goals of the SDGs. These include health, education, agriculture, infrastructure development, and youth empowerment.

The Training held in Ganta was conducted under the auspices of the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-information Services (LISGIS) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

It was under the theme: “Enhancing the Statistical and Analytical Foundations for Pro-Poor Agenda/SDGs and designed to build a strong statistical foundation of data analysts and statisticians in various software applications by providing hands-on technical data management and analytical skills.

The skills will also help track and monitor the implementation of the SDGs as well as improve data analysis.The Director-General of the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-information Services (LISGIS), Professor Francis Wreh stressed that the training was important to help the Statistics House ensure that all data is harmonized.

“The National Statistical and Spatial Data System supported by development partners has been efficient in the compilation of information and data required for policy formation and effective implementation and monitoring,” he said.

He added that “we” need to ensure that data emanating from all Ministries, Agencies and Commissions are harmonized and not disjointed. Professor Wreh indicated that the participation of the technicians demonstrate their preparedness to move the development of statistics in Liberia to an internationally acceptable level.

For his part, UNDP National Economic Advisor under its Strategy and Policy Unit, Stanley Kamara, described the exercise as an opportunity to share knowledge and information on relevant statistical data that feeds into the domestication and the tracking of progress on the SDGs and a national framework of the Country.

“You need relevant statistical data to build on a road map of extensive understanding of the slogan “leaving no one behind,” Stanley Kamara concluded.–Press release