The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) like many MDAs, have some responsibility for the generation of statistics as outcome of their functions and they do compile and analyze this and other relevant data critical for socio-economic development of the country. The need to ensure uniformity in statistical data collection which is in line with national priorities and global statistical standards to stakeholders cannot be over emphasized. The development of a five-year strategic plan on gender statistics to guide data collection techniques, methodologies, statistical data analysis, reporting and communication has become very imperative. Findings of a 2017 assessment of gender statistics at national and districts levels identified gaps and challenges in most of the operational areas across institutions and sectors in relation to unclear methodologies, and lack of mainstreaming of gender considerations into statistical data production (Assessment of Gender Statistics at National and District levels. 2017). The work stream data and statistics team formed after the National Road Map Forum on Statistics organized by the GSS in 2017, has also recommended among others, strengthening of the data eco-system and improvement in the production of gender statistics, dissemination and utilization ( Draft Terms of Reference, Work streams on National Data Road Map, June, 2017) These developments made it imperative to develop a five-year strategic plan on gender statistics to capture the diverse characteristics of women and men, inequalities between them and specificities of different groups of women and girls essential for the attainment of sustainable development goals, monitoring and evaluation.

The five-year strategic plan on gender statistics is divided into six chapters.  Chapter One, the introduction provides some background to the plan, rationale and justification—stating the importance of statistics in general and gender statistics in particular, in the attainment of sustainable development. The strategic plan on gender statistics’ objectives are among others (1) to address challenges identified in the nation-wide assessment of gender inequalities and inequities in government ministries, departments and agencies with focus on their policy formulation, institutional designs and implementation strategies; (2) to generate and disseminate reliable gender data and statistics critical for policy formulation for sustainable development; (3) to generate more gender-specific indicators that would produce results in the disaggregation by sex and or refer to gender equality as the underlying objective; (4) to address issues of low capacities in the production of gender statistics at all levels of planning and decision-making; (5) to enhance production of a comprehensive and periodic statistics on the status of women, men, boys and girls, including data disaggregated by sex, and other socio-economic characteristics; (6) to fill existing gender data gaps identified in order to address  the needs of all citizens; (7) to fulfill Ghana’s national, regional and international obligations through the generation of gender statistical data to promote gender equality and sustainable development  for all persons.

Chapter Two looks at, the objectives and scope of work, of the strategic plan in line with the terms of reference governing the development of the strategic plan and highlights focus areas and issues, strategic goals and outcomes of the strategic plan.

Chapter Three focuses on gender statistics, covers an analytical review of gender issues in Ghana in relation to national, legal, policy and institutional frameworks and commitments Ghana has signed, adopted and ratified in the areas of gender equality and women’s empowerment, human rights and sustainable development in all spheres of life (see page 20 & 21 of this report) Some of these legal frameworks referred to included, the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition, other documents such as the UN Women’s flagship report on the SDGs and its commitment on gender inclusiveness and the principle of not leaving anyone behind. The report of the Ghana Road map forum, and institutional frameworks for the production of statistical products within the NSS statistical development Eco-system, were referred to in line with national, regional and international principles governing statistical production. Initiatives in the production of gender statistical data at national regional and international levels were also referred to. The findings of the comprehensive assessment of gender inequalities and inequities in government institutions mentioned earlier provided the basis for the development of the five-year strategic plan on gender statistics. This chapter was also dedicated to an analytical review of gender issues in Ghana (political, social-cultural and economic) at various levels and in line with policy and legal frameworks at national, regional, and international levels. It also analyzes a set of 67 SDGs gender indicators based on ratings in terms of priority, periodicity, accessibility and recommendations made by stakeholders during a nation -wide consultations with relevant stakeholder MDAs including MMDAs and traditional authorities, micro-credit organizations, at district and regional levels across the ten regions of Ghana.

Chapter Four dives deep into the strategic plan frameworks, the vision, mission and objectives, guiding principles and values, broad strategies for improving gender statistics production, strategic goals and objectives. This chapter outlines the six strategic goals of the plan, these are: (a) improve/enhance legal frameworks and policy environment and institutional frameworks; (b)  improve and accelerate the production and utilization of gender statistics; (c)  enhance gender disaggregated data production, quality, dissemination and use; (d)  update sustainable infrastructure for production of gender statistics; (e) improve human and technical resources development and management for gender statistics production; (f) establish a sustainable source of funding for gender statistics production.

The strategic plan also outlines operational strategies, objectives, results/ expected outcomes, performance indicators, priority interventions and actions/ activities, time lines, responsible institutions and partners and estimated cost of activities.  The chapter has also provided an activity matrix with identified responsible agencies/Implementers and timelines covering the five-year period of the plan with estimated cost.

Chapter Five covers a monitoring and evaluation plan which spells out key steps in the development of a monitoring and evaluation system and proposed M&E System which indicates purpose, identifiable questions and activities among other variables. The M&E Plan has also provided tools and methodologies for the M&E such as participatory monitoring and evaluation, interviews, report cards, report reviews, research and case studies. These tools will be used in addition to accurate quantitative and qualitative gender data such as the African Gender Development Index (AGDI), the Gender and Human Development Index (GSI) and the African Women’s Score Boards (AWPS) among other tools with diagrams.

Chapter Six contains an implementation plan, with recommendations for improvement of gender statistic production and for addressing gender related issues impeding balanced and sustainable development, a proposed coordinating mechanism for overseeing the strategic plan implementation and conclusion.

The strategic plan on gender statistics also has attached a glossary of gender terms and definitions, acronyms, abbreviations and references.