Over 30 Liberian journalists representing various media institutions complete a one-day professional development workshop at the head office of the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geospatial Information or LISGIS in Monrovia.
The exercise focused on reporting Liberia Demographic |Health Survey (LDHS) ahead of conduct of national census.
LISGIS Director General Professor Francis Wreh says, the essence of the training is to provide basic skills and knowledge on reporting the Liberia Demographic Health Survey.
He notes that only the media can assist LISGIS in disseminating information contains in report released by the institution to avoid discrepancy in the data, adding that LISGIS goals can be achieved based on accurate reportage of its data.
Prof. Wreh explains that reporting correct data on the LDHS will also enable Liberians to understand that the statistics contained in LISGIS report is correct and there is no need to add or subtract from it.
He adds that LISGIS oversees the 2019-2020 DHS survey but in partnership with several international partners namely, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Health Organization (WHO), United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, and UNFPA to collect specific data information on several aspects of life.
LISGIS Director of Public Affairs Varfee Holmes, presenting on Liberia Demographic Health Survey History, looks at the importance of data, how the LDHS helps Liberia, key findings from past surveys, significant programs introduced because of past surveys, key contacts for the 2019 LDHS, among others.
He reminds that journalists reporting LISGIS data would depend on the level of research made and information secured based on specific figures and percentages contain in survey findings that should not be tempered with.
LDHS Project Coordinator Germue Gbawoquiya, giving Technical Overview of the 2019 survey, assets that the survey considered the number of people in households, ages, gender marital status, source of drinking, sanitation, number of children per woman of childbearing age, family size, age at first birth, age at first marriage, age at first sexual intercourse, family planning knowledge, contraceptive use, and source of methods, among others.By Emmanuel Mondaye–Editing by Jonathan Browne
