Ghana Statistical Service’s generation of timely and relevant data to battle the Covid-19 pandemic, has been highlighted in the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General's annual Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Report that was launched on Tuesday July 6, 2021 at the UN Headquarters in New York.

The SDG Report 2021, which focuses on the toll that the Covid-19 pandemic has taken on the 2030 Agenda, highlights the exemplary progress of Ghana and the work of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in generating and disseminating data to guide policy responses to the pandemic.

The report cites the development of the Covid-19 data hub and analysis of mobility data during the lockdown period, that provided critical data for decision-making and highlights the critical role that National Statistical Offices such as the GSS, play in developing solutions to the Covid-19 pandemic and other national and global challenges.

The data-driven Covid-19 response, is part of the Ghana Statistical Service mandate to generate relevant, accurate and timely data for decision-making to solve the nation’s development challenges.

The 2021 SDG report can be downloaded here: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2021/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2021.pdf.

On July 13, 2021, the World Bank also published a blog on its website acknowledging and commending the efforts of three countries – Ghana, Mexico and Estonia in strengthening their data systems towards establishing an integrated national data system with limited resource availability. See the full blog here: https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/

Other innovative initiatives that GSS implemented during the period not cited in the report, include the implementation of innovative telephone-based Covid-19 tracker surveys, to assess the impact of the pandemic on households, businesses and local economies.

For more on the Covid-19 hub dashboard, the Covid-19 tracker surveys and other projects generating data for decision-making, visit the GSS website on www.statsghana.gov.gh