Hosted by the Ghana Statistical Service and the Collaborative on Administrative Data.
Administrative data, the records ministries and agencies keep as part of their everyday work, can give countries timely and regularly updated information at a lower cost than many surveys. African countries have made real progress in using these records for official statistics, but in many national statistical systems they remain underused.
Making better use of them takes sound methods and systems that protect data quality, privacy and security. It also takes working relationships between national statistical offices and the ministries, departments and agencies that hold the data. Experience across the region shows that regular dialogue and trust between data owners and statistics producers make the difference.
This side event brings together NSOs and development partners to share practical lessons on building those partnerships. Ghana will share how it established memoranda of understanding with 25 ministries, departments and agencies. A panel of statistical offices from across the region, moderated by Karen Bett of the Global Partnership, will discuss what has worked and the barriers countries most often face.
Participants will also be introduced to resources from the Collaborative on Administrative Data. These include a guide and template for improving coordination within the national statistical system, a self-assessment tool for legal frameworks, and an advocacy toolkit on sharing administrative data for statistical purposes.
The session is intended for NSO staff, representatives of ministries and institutions that manage administrative data, and development partners supporting administrative data systems.
