Launch of “30 Days to Census Night” in the Denkyembour District
Posted by Elvis Offei-Bekoe - 28th May, 2021
On Friday 28th May 2021, the District Census Implementation Committee of the Denkyembour District held a ceremony to launch 30 days to Census Night. The Census Night which will fall on the 27th June 2021 is a major part of the Population and Housing Census. The launch was mainly aimed at inviting stakeholders and educate them on the upcoming Population and Housing Census and also to launch a 30-day public sensitization of the exercise.
Present at the meeting were all District Census Implementation Committee which is chaired by the District coordinating Director; Mr Mark Addo. Also present were some invited chiefs and traditional rulers, leaders of churches and mosques, youth groups, heads of selected schools, market women, civil society organizations, opinion leaders, amongst others.
The ceremony began with a welcome address by the chairman for the DCIC who doubles as the District Coordinating Director for the district; Mr. Mark Addo. In his address, he expressed his gratitude to all stakeholders for taking time out of their busy schedule to grace the ceremony. He explained that the purpose of the census was to address the various data gaps needed for effective planning of sectoral programmes at the district level. It was therefore reassuring that the Census will collect information on every structure, household and individual, thereby providing reliable and disaggregated data to lowest levels of administration and geography, including rural and urban differentiation. Such data are critically needed by the MMDAs for the purpose of tracking progress in particular efforts aimed at eradicating poverty and all forms of inequalities in the districts and localities.
The District Census Officer; Mr Collins Agamale also gave a brief speech on the main census processes. He stated that training had already been done for the Master trainers, National Trainers, Regional trainers and the Data Quality Management Team members. Training for enumerators and supervisors would commence on Monday 31st May 2021.
He added that, the main goal of the census is to achieve complete coverage of all structures and persons in Ghana, which details with the ‘Leave no one behind’ agenda of the sustainable development goals. Technological advances, process digitalization and enhanced and effective training, being the hallmarks of Ghana 2021 PHC, have been integrated into the census process to ensure the production of quality data.
The Presiding Member for Denkyembour District; Honourable Asante Kennedy who represented the District Chief Executive stated in his address that district assemblies should fully support the census because it will address the various data gaps needed for effective planning of sectoral programmes at the district level. He also stated that the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development has supported the allocation of storage facilities in all the 272 statistical districts in the country and they will continue to support the GSS to ensure the conduct of a successful census through the District Census Implementation Committee.
There were performances from the Akwatia Anglican Basic School Drama troupe on the upcoming Population and Housing Census. The performances were basically poetry recitals, acting and cultural dances all aimed at portraying the message about the exercise.