The Multi-stakeholder Committee would oversee the pilot implementation of at least five quality assured products within the grant period of the project.

Mr Bobrnuo Vitus, the Senior Statistician at the GSS said the committee would have the mandate of making recommendations to GSS governance structure and operations for the implementation of the DQAF, after the grant period.

He said the Committee would operate until the end of the grant period of 24 months and would meet every quarter.  

The DAQF project seeks to ensure the setup of a quality assurance methods and tools used to regularly monitor and evaluate statistical products for transparency in process, procedure and methods towards ensuring quality, build trust and facilitate data change.

A 10 member multi-stakeholder team was also inaugurated to review existing data quality assurance frameworks and interact to learn best practices and useful lessons from other countries. They are expected to complete the draft by December, this year.

The Committee chaired by the Mr David Y. Kombat, the Deputy Government Statistician, has members coming from various sectors including Care Ghana, the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), the Office of Head of Local Government Services (OHCS), the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD).

Others participating are the National Development Planning Commission, the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) and United Nations Systems Data Group in Ghana.

Inaugurating the Committee, Dr Grace Bediako, the Board Chair of GSS said with the increasing demand for more and better quality data, current global, regional and national development frameworks require steps to streamline: types, methods, and the role of actors in data production and utilisation.

She said country-level commitments to the SDGs and other development frameworks would not be feasible without strengthening the National Statistical System (NSS), especially at the sector and district levels.

She said the strengthening of the sector and district level would assist in providing the right information, at the right time, of the required quality, which addresses both national and global data needs; and made universally accessible requirements.

Dr Bediako said in recognition of the fact that most stakeholders within the NSS generate and also rely on administrative data sources for policy implementation, embracing a recognised DQAF with the capacity of harmonising traditional surveys and censuses with administrative data collection sources, could improve data collection processes and expand sources of official statistics.

She said the availability and implementation of a DQAF would promote transparency of information and methods for statistics production, enhance quality, consistency and comparability of data.

She said it would also build trust, and facilitate exchange of data among government institutions, civil society, private sector data producers, academic institutions, and development partners.