Gender Ministry swears in Data Review Committee to strengthen household registry

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has constituted a Data Review Committee to strengthen the quality, accuracy and credibility of data generated by the Ghana National Household Registry (GNHR).

The committee, which has been sworn in, will serve as a quality assurance body responsible for reviewing, validating and endorsing analytical reports and findings from the Registry before they are shared with stakeholders and the public.

Its establishment comes as the GNHR holds information on approximately three million enrolled households across all 16 regions of Ghana.

Speaking at the inauguration, the Ministry’s Chief Director, Dr Marian W. A. Kpakpah, said the committee would play an important role in strengthening the Registry’s work and ensuring that reliable data informs decision-making in the social protection sector.

She urged members to take their responsibilities seriously and bring their expertise to bear on the committee’s work.

The Head of the GNHR, Dr Richard Adjetey, explained that the committee had been established as a formal peer-review body to provide an additional layer of quality assurance for the Registry’s analytical outputs.

He said the growing volume of data analysis made it necessary to establish a structured process to ensure that findings were properly reviewed and validated before being shared with government institutions, development partners and the public.

The committee will assess the accuracy, consistency, completeness and reliability of GNHR data and analytical findings, identify errors and methodological gaps, and recommend corrective measures.

It will also provide technical guidance on data-sharing protocols, analytical tools and capacity building to improve the use of Registry data in evidence-based decision-making.

During the meeting, members were introduced to the committee’s Terms of Reference and responsibilities by Daniel Sackey of the GNHR.

He also provided an overview of the Registry’s data collection methodology, Proxy Means Test (PMT) indicators and model, questionnaire, key statistical outputs, Registry health indicators and data quality concerns.

The presentation outlined the processes and systems underpinning the Registry and the technical areas the committee would be expected to review.

The meeting ended with discussions on the committee’s next steps, with members emphasising the importance of sustained collaboration with the GNHR.

The committee is expected to begin work by providing technical reviews and guidance to ensure that analytical outputs from the Registry meet the required standards of quality and credibility.