From evidence
to action
Four times official statistics changed what happened next.
A borehole for a school, a dashboard built by students, a bigger disability fund and health insurance teams in the market: each began with a number published by the Ghana Statistical Service.
Statistics matter when someone uses them. These four accounts from Ghana in Numbers 2025 (pp. 117–122) show district figures, census data, a citizen survey and a new poverty index being used to direct support, teach data skills and shape policy.
Chapter One
Clean Water Was 59 Minutes Away
59minutes
a day spent collecting water in Ada West, Greater Accra
The GSS Water and Sanitation Report (October 2023) found that residents of Ada West spent an average of 59 minutes a day collecting water, among the worst-served districts in the country. Stand-In-the-Gap, an NGO looking for a community to serve, used the report to choose Ada West and then Mangoase School.
A January 2024 scouting visit found children learning under a shed without walls and walking to an untreated stream. The response was a borehole, storage tanks and pipes, a proper classroom and waste bins.
From a district statistic to a borehole.
Water and Sanitation Report, October 2023 · p. 117
District average
59minutes
Daily time collecting water, October 2023 report
School to stream
15min each way
Before the borehole; the 59-minute figure is not the school’s own measurement
Chapter Two
Inspiring a New Generation of Data Users
350+million
official data points used by students in two StatsBank Hackathons
Run by GSS and Statistics Denmark, the hackathon had students work on youth unemployment, gaps in education and health care, water and sanitation, gender inequality and regional differences.
In the 2023 edition, one team built a dashboard showing which districts had enough health and education facilities and which had the deepest shortfalls.
Official data points
350+million
2021 PHC and other datasets
Tertiary institutions
11
Taking part across two editions
People aged 15–35
11.9million
About 35% of the population, as stated in this story · p. 118
Chapter Three
How Citizen Data Helped Shape Disability Policy
3% → 5%
share of the District Assemblies Common Fund for persons with disabilities, from 2025
The DACF Support Survey reached 7,361 persons with disabilities in 10 districts across 3 ecological zones. Disability advocates used the findings in engagements with Parliament, the Office of the President and the National Council for Persons with Disabilities; the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations called it “a turning point in our advocacy”.
In October 2025 the allocation rose from 3% to 5%, Disability Desks were introduced in every assembly, and greater involvement of persons with disabilities in managing the fund became part of the agenda.
Allocation before
3%
Allocation from 2025
5%
What survey respondents reported
% of respondents, 2023 survey; bars on a 0–100% scale
- Knew about the DACF allocation for persons with disabilities55%
- Did not know about the allocation or were unsure45%
- Had received support54%
- Took part in discussions on how the fund is allocated and spent30%
- Had no formal education37.5%
- Had reached higher education4.3%
Main forms of support received
- Economic empowerment47%
- Education24%
- Health22%
Respondents in the 10 covered districts, not a nationally representative sample. More than 60% asked for the allocation to rise from 3% to 5%, and 30% for faster release of funds. Source: DACF Support Survey (GSS, MLGDRD, GFD, GIZ) · pp. 119–120.
View data· Published figures
| Finding | % of respondents |
|---|---|
| Knew about the DACF allocation for persons with disabilities | 55.0 |
| Did not know about the allocation or were unsure | 45.0 |
| Had received support | 54.0 |
| Took part in discussions on how the fund is allocated and spent | 30.0 |
| Had no formal education | 37.5 |
| Had reached higher education | 4.3 |
| Support received as economic empowerment | 47.0 |
| Support received as education | 24.0 |
| Support received as health | 22.0 |
Support types are shares reported in the text; respondents could receive more than one type, so they need not sum to the 54% who received support.
Chapter Four
The Story of Afigya Kwabre North
23%
of the district’s measured multidimensional poverty linked to residents without health insurance (nearly)
The first district-level Multidimensional Poverty Index (June 2024) covered all 261 districts, measuring what people go without rather than what they earn. In Afigya Kwabre North, Ashanti Region, nearly 23% of measured multidimensional poverty traced back to residents not being enrolled in the National Health Insurance Scheme.
The district sent mobile NHIS registration teams into markets and community centres, removing the barrier of distance and time.
Making one deprivation visible.
District Multidimensional Poverty Index, June 2024 · pp. 121–122
Linked to no health insurance
23% (nearly)
A contribution to the poverty measure, not the share of people uninsured
Districts measured
261
All districts, June 2024 release
What the stories share
A published number is the start of a decision, not the end of a report.
- District-level figures let an NGO choose one school out of many.
- Open data turned students into analysts of their own districts.
- A citizen survey gave advocates evidence that moved a national fund.
- A poverty index showed one district exactly which deprivation to tackle.
Source: Ghana Statistical Service · Ghana in Numbers 2025, Chapter 10, pp. 117–122