By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Statistics Sierra Leone have called on data generating agencies and data users to collaborate to enhance data using experience in the country.
Statistician General Professor Osman Sankoh made the call during a one-day workshop organized by the agency for data users and producers on Wednesday.
Statistics Sierra Leone is the principal data producing institution in the country. It generates data through surveys, research and other means for sectors like business, health, and agriculture. This data is normally used by government and other organizations to do reports or plan development activities.
The workshop targeted institutions that either produce data or use data primarily in their line of work. Institutions like the National Civil Registration Authority, National Monitoring and Evaluation Department at the Ministry of Planning and Development, National Council for Civic Education and Development, Directorate of Science Innovation and Technology and the Mass Communication Department at Fourah Bay College were specifically targeted.
Prof. Sankoh told Politico on the sidelines of the program that collaboration among all these agencies is key to solve the challenges data collection and data usage faces.
“If you have institutions, those who produce data and those who utilize the data and also those who enhance the usability of the data, that is the best way to have this open discussion for us to understand what the issues are,” he said.
He added: “If you do it alone you can do it, but it takes you a long time to achieve compared to what you could have achieved whiles collaborating with others.”
Participants at the workshop were drawn from various government and non-governmental institutions, including the United Nations Development Program, and they did presentations, speeches and discussed how they have been using data and the possibility for inter-agency collaboration.
Ministry of Finance is one of the key institutions that use data to inform its work. The Director of Research at the ministry, Dr Yakama Jones, emphasized the need for data and how they work with other data gathering agencies to inform their work.
During her presentation, Dr Jones said: “Data provides validity for the existence of policy issues. Data when properly used informs the design and choice of policies including resource allocation.”
She added: “I want us to pay more attention to two components of the solutions designing process that will help us achieve our development targets; collaboration and open communication. At the Ministry of Finance, even though our research is focused on economic issues, we still collaborate with other institutions from a range of backgrounds.”
Stats SL officials are hoping that this engagement will eventually create the need for an integrated data infrastructure and decentralize data to some extent. The Chairman of Statistics Sierra Leone Council, Moses Williams, said they are hoping that all these institutions become a part of what Stat SL is doing.
“What we want to happen is that you don’t come to Stat SL for every data. If you want data on education you go to Ministry of Education and if you can’t get it, then you come to us,” Williams said.
Already data generating institutions like the Directorate of Science Technology and Innovation say they have been collaborating with agencies to do most of their work. Data Engineer at the Directorate, Glena Wilson said they are on the verge of launching a web portal that will show the major resources in the country and their locations.
“This is an interactive platform for the government of Sierra Leone, its citizens and partners to use for informed decision related services and their locations,” she said.
In developing the portal, the Directorate said they are working with Stat SL, the Health Ministry, Bank of Sierra Leone, the Judiciary and many more institutions for the data they need.
“We captured all this data from collaborating with these institutions. For now we are focusing on high priority resources like health centers, educational centers, financial resources, cell towers and others,” Wilson further explained in her presentation.
Stat SL falls under the supervision of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development. The Deputy Minister, Dr Robert Chakandas, gave government’s commitment to supporting the institution for the progressive steps they are about to undertake.
“The ministry will support Statistics Sierra Leone with its stance to make sure that MDA’s, UN agencies and other partners who publish statistical data do so with the collaboration of Stat SL,” he said.
“Furthermore, we will encourage decentralization of data through Stat SL for effective delivery,” he added.
© 2019 Politico Online
