The Chiefs and people of the Upper East Region have fully endorsed the Ghana National Household Registry (GNHR) Data Collection exercise which is aimed at producing a single national household register to facilitate access to a credible database for effective implementation of social protection programmes.
In affirming their readiness and acceptance for the exercise, the people [ads1]including several Chiefs, Queen mothers, Ministers, Members of Parliament, Municipal and District Chief Executives, Assembly members, Head of State Institutions, Civil Society Organisations, women and youth groups and Students among other key stakeholders thronged the Gbewaa College of Education park for the official launch of the data collection exercise.
The exercise which is being funded by the World Bank, was first carried out in the Upper West Region and it is expected to be replicated in all the 10 regions of Ghana.
Against this backdrop, the Deputy Regional Minister for the Upper East Region, Frank Fuseini Adongo assured the full support of the Chiefs and people of the region in ensuring a very successful and credible data collection exercise by the GNHR of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
The Data Collection exercise begins Wednesday 28th February 2018 in the Upper East Region a day after the official launch at Pusiga.
Delivering a welcome address on behalf of the Regional Minister, Rockson Bukari, Mr. Frank Fuseini Adongo said “to ensure a successful data collection exercise in the region, there is the need for all stakeholders to support the exercise”.
He was of the view that the massive attendance by the people was an indication that they had fully endorsed the exercise and were prepared to support it at all cost.
The Deputy Minister reminded the people that, any attempt by any of the households or group of people to sabotage the exercise or prevent its smooth running would be injurious to the future development of the Upper East Region and Ghana as a whole, since the final database had the tendency to inform policy initiatives and direction of government.
The National Coordinator of the GNHR, Dr. Prosper Laari said that with all the preparatory activities, public awareness and resources at their disposal, his outfit and for that matter, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection expected nothing but a successful data collection exercise in the Upper East Region.
He said, the exercise would be carried out under strict supervision and monitoring from national, zonal and district officers to ensure that all enumerators and other support officers work according to the specified guidelines.
The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisah Djaba on whose shoulders the entire nationwide exercise is rested, emphasized that the exercise was in sync with the Sustainable Development Goals 1 of Ending Poverty.
She said the Government of Ghana (GoG) through the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection had established the Ghana National Household Registry to ensure that social protection interventions get to the people who really need them.
Hon. Otiko Afisah Djaba reiterated that the GNHR aimed to enhance transparency and accountability in selecting beneficiaries of social protection programmes across MMDAs by establishing a credible, up-to-date single national household register that would ensure efficiency and coordination in the implementation of social protection programmes.
The Minister, therefore, called on the MPs in the Upper East, District Chief executives, Chiefs, opinion leaders, traditional rulers across the region to own the exercise and encourage various households to take it very seriously.
Source: AwakeAfrica.com/Edmond Gyebi
