TIG Post

Tag: 2021 Population and Housing Census

  • Female MPs seek funds to retain seats in Parliament

    Female MPs seek funds to retain seats in Parliament

    Some female Members of Parliament (MPs) are calling for financial assistance from various civil society organizations and stakeholders to effectively fulfill their constituency duties.

    They believe that such support would contribute to retaining the majority of female MPs and promote gender parity in politics.

    According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, Ghana has a higher female population, accounting for 50.7 percent of the total population, while males constitute 49.3 percent.

    However, within the 8th Parliament, both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have 20 female members each, totaling 40 out of 275 MPs.

    During recent NDC primaries, three female MPs lost their bids to contest in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

    Expressing their concerns during a breakfast meeting organized by the Parliamentary Network Africa, Members of Parliament Patricia Appiagyei, Betty Krosbi Mensah, and Sheila Bartels called for financial support to retain their seats.

    “It is very important that if we are working with the CSOs, wherever you are getting your funding from, it is critical that you appreciate the challenges we have in ensuring that we are servicing our constituencies and support us especially even during our primaries. What do you do to support and ensure that we retain our numbers and be able to even appreciate the numbers that we have in Parliament?”

    Patricia Appiagyei stressed the importance of recognizing the challenges MPs face while serving their constituencies, especially during primaries, and urged the civil society organizations (CSOs) to offer necessary support.

    Betty Krosbi Mensah, representing Afram Plains North, highlighted the limited resources available to MPs, making it difficult to effectively represent their constituencies.

    Sheila Bartels, MP for Ablekuma North, emphasized that empowering women in Parliament would encourage more women to seek these positions.

    She expressed concerns about women in politics not getting the same support as their male counterparts and urged for equitable financing opportunities.

    The financial support sought by these female MPs aims to ensure they can continue their parliamentary roles effectively and pave the way for greater gender representation in Ghanaian politics.

  • More than 400,000 children engaged in child labor in 2021 – GSS

    More than 400,000 children engaged in child labor in 2021 – GSS

    A report by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), indicates that a total of 419,254 children between the ages of 5 to 17 years were involved in economic activities in Ghana in 2021.

    This data highlights the extent of child labor and the need for further measures to protect the rights and well-being of these children.

    The children were captured during the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC).

    The GSS explained that 76,439 children aged 5 to 9 years were engaged in economic activity, 153,189 aged 10 to 14 years were engaged in economic activities, and 189,626 children aged 15 to 17 years were involved in such activities.

    Children aged 5 to 17 years worked an average of 29.2 hours in the seven days preceding Census Night.

    Children aged 15 to 17 years worked an average of 35.2 hours, while children aged 10 to 14 years worked an average of 26.5 hours (about 5 hours per weekday). Children aged 5 to 9 years worked an average of 19.8 hours (about 4 hours per weekday).

    The GSS also found that children engaged as paid apprentices worked the highest number of hours, on average 48.4 hours.

    This was almost twice the number of hours worked by contributing family workers, who worked an average of 25.0 hours. Children in the service sector worked an average of 36.8 hours, while those in the agricultural sector worked an average of 25.6 hours.

    The GSS also found that 153,773 children aged 5 to 17 years engaged in economic activity had never attended school. Of this number, 37,963 children were aged 5 to 9 years.

    In all, 94,748 children aged 5 to 17 years engaged in economic activity were also attending school during the census.

  • Volta Region loses close to 500,000 people due to net migration – Statistician

    Volta Region loses close to 500,000 people due to net migration – Statistician

    According to Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, the government statistician, the Volta Region has the most net migration.

    This was the difference between people moving into the region and people moving out of the region, according on data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census.

    Sharing this via his Twitter handle, Prof. Samuel Annim indicated that in the Greater Accra Region, over 1.1 million people had moved to the region.

    That figure, he explained, is more than five times the number in the Ashanti Region.

    “Greater Accra gained over 1.1 million persons through net migration, over five times higher than Ashanti, the region with the second highest net migration. Ten regions had negative net migration, with Volta recording the highest net loss of almost half a million persons,” he wrote.

  • PNC worried over silence of religious leaders on Ghana’s economic crisis

    The People’s National Convention (PNC) has said it is worried that the country’s revered Religious Leaders are quiet in this economic challenging times the country is going through.

    The PNC said Ghana is regarded as a very religious nation and as such, the Religious Leaders should intercede with God on behalf of the country.

    The 2021 Population and Housing Census reported that, about 99% of all Ghanaians are made up of Christians, Muslims, Traditional believers and other Godly religion.

    These religious bodies all believe in the existence of one Omnipotent and Omnipresent Being called the Almighty God, the PNC said.

    For a country which has 99% of it’s population being religious should lean more on God and called for divine intervention when faced with difficulties and challenges, it added.

    “The PNC is therefore calling on the government and the various religious bodies , such as the Christian Council of Ghana, the Muslim Council and the Traditional Council to collaborate and set a day as a National Day of Repentance for Ghanaians to seek forgiveness and to implore God to heal the country. It is only true repentance that will help change the attitude of Ghanaians.

    “This can be organized on yearly bases. In the Bible, the book of 2 nd Chronicles 7:14 states, ‘If my people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land’.

    “The Holy Quran instructs in chapter 11:3 ‘Seek forgiveness of your Lord and repent to Him
    and He Will let you enjoy a good provision’ The PNC having recommended solution to the country’s economic challenges via a Press statement released on the 10th of this month, believe the religious bodies in the country, have a special role to play by leading a National Day of Repentance to help revamp our economy.

    “So far, government and other stakeholders of our economy have done and are still working out humanly solutions which must be supported by a strong spiritual barking from all religious groups in the country. Lets not wish to be in this difficulties till the next elections. It would not benefit any one.”

  • Government commends GSS for successful 2021 census

    The government has commended the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) for the successful conduct of the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC).

    A Deputy Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Mr O.B. Amoah, who made the commendation, said the ability of the GSS to release the census results 43 days after the end of field data collection had been highly commended by the international community as well.

    He stated that the use of electronic data collection for the first time to conduct the census, undoubtedly had yielded the desired results which emphatically buttressed government’s agenda for digitalisation of the economy.

    General Report

    Mr Amoah was speaking at a ceremony to release the 2021 PHC General Report by the GSS in Accra last Thursday.

    The 2021 PHC General Report contained disaggregated data on the main census results and features 11 volumes presenting findings from the different modules of the census questionnaires.

    The General Report was released in Volumes 3A,3B and 3C.

    The Volume 3A presents population size, sex, composition and population density by region, district and type of locality (urban/rural).

    The Volume 3B presents statistics on age and sex profile by region , and type of locality while the Volume 3C presents background (socio-demographic) characteristics on the population by region, and type of locality.

    Mr Amoah ,who chaired the launch of the reports, stated that the government recognised the important role data played in the development policies and setting agenda of the country, especially for implementing sound economic growth and development to improve the lives of the population.

    “Indeed, data from the 2021 PHC will enable us to measure the social and economic status of our nation, and to receive the invaluable inputs necessary for charting the road maps for achieving the targets and indicators envisioned in our national development agenda,” he stated.

    Mr Amoah said his sector ministry would continue to collaborate with the GSS to ensure effective utilisation of the census data to trigger the needed development at both the local and national levels of the country.

    Key takeaways

    Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, who launched the report, said the reports presented important disaggregated data for research, policy and planning.

    He said the disaggregated data, such as presented in the General Report, were critical to identifying vulnerable populations in order to ensure that no one was left behind in the development process.

    He said the data revealed significant high incidence of unregistered marriages, a population growth rate in urban areas that required multi-sectoral effort to improve living conditions of people in both rural and urban areas while there was a considerable decline in household sizes such as welfare, housing, environment among others.

    Source: Graphiconline

  • Over 79,000 girls in Ghana aged 12 to 17 married or living with a man – GSS

    The 2021 Population and Housing Census revealed that 79,733 girls in Ghana aged 12 to 17 have been married or living with a man.

    According to the Ghana Statistical Service, 25,999 are girls aged 12 to 14 years.

    The regions with the highest percentage of girls ever in union are North East with 13 percent, Savannah with 10.9 percent and Northern with 10.6 percent all with rates more than twice the national average of 4 percent.

    The service also noted that despite free and compulsory universal basic education, almost a quarter of a million girls aged 6 to 14 years have never attended school at all.

    Three out of every 10 of these girls are in the Northern Region which has the highest number of girls
    who have never attended school (73,516) followed by the Savannah (27,930) and North East (22,857) regions.

    “These three regions also have the highest percent of girls currently not attending school (never attended or attended in the past) with Savannah leading all regions with 40.2% followed by the North East Region (29.3%) and the Northern Region (28.5%).”

    The national figure is 7.8 percent which represents 285,271 girls aged 6 to 14 years that are not attending school.

    Three out of every four girls aged 6 to 14 years not attending school are living in rural areas.

    Further, 99,150 girls under 15 years are engaged in economic activity with half of them out of school.

    “Half (49.9%) of girls engaged in economic activity are in the Northern (22,647), Oti (17,694), and North East (9,153) regions which have the highest share of girls in economic activity,” the service noted.

    This data was released to mark the International Day of the Girl.

    The aim of IDG is to highlight challenges preventing young girls from reaching their full potential such as early marriage, and lack of access to educational and other opportunities.

    citinewsroom.com