2021 Population Census: GFD Dialogues with Ghana Statistical Service 

Members of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations (GFD) has held an engagement session with the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) ahead of the impending 2021 Population and Housing Census.

According to the GFD, there are emerging trends that Ghana needs to follow so as to capture persons with disability in Ghana during the population census.

At the recently held meeting session at the Paloma Hotel in Accra, the Executive Director for the GFD, Rita Kusi Kyeremaa, noted that there are issues of data and policy formulation in Ghana. She is however hopeful that the GSS will help out on persons within the disability environment.

“We need to do more to ensure that all category of persons with disability are included in the data collection process and also efforts are being made to capture data per emerging concepts and happenings,” she stated.

“It has been a challenge especially at the national level looking at the data we have on disability…and so before the 2010 Census we had some engagements with the Ghana Statistical Service about disability inclusion. At the time we were all embracing the critical need for data to promote disability inclusion,” she added.

Madam Kusi Kyeremaa said as a result of these challenges in 2008 the Washington Group came up with a set of questions to basically help address the gap in inclusion and participation between persons with disabilities and persons without disabilities.

“So we then think that is a global framework for data collection. As a disability movement we picked that up and began engagement with the relevant authorities and institutions on how to include data on disability. And ensure that there is proper segregation to enhance the data we have in Ghana,” she reiterated.

Head of Instrument Development Planning and Analysis at the GSS, Godwin Gyebi, on his part described the engagement with the GFD on the upcoming 2021 Population and Housing Census as fruitful, especially on education.

“The questions for the census are captured on persons who have difficulty in performing activities. So we have touched on persons with disabilities. We want the general public to let us know persons who have difficulty on maybe, hearing, sight, speech, among others,” he stated.

Source: Isaac Dzidzoamenu