UNICEF and CDD-Ghana last Thursday presented the results of the 2017 District League Table (DLT) in Accra.
In the report, Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) of the Greater Accra Region was ranked the first district with a score of 80, being the highest score ever reached by any district since the league table was introduced in 2014.
TMA also won the 1st place in 2015 but slumped to second in 2016.
The district in 216th place is now Krachi East in the Volta Region with a score of 50.6. This means that the top and bottom scores have improved since last year.
The national average is 64.7, below which 102 Districts are found – this compares with an average of 58.9 in 2016. With an eventual target of a score of 100%, it is clear that the majority of districts are still far from this goal.
Interestingly, there are nine districts that are new to the top 20, such as Wa West in the Upper West Region. Furthermore, 12 of the districts in the bottom 20 are new as several featuring there last year have managed to move up.
North Tongu, which was the 216th District in 2016, has moved up to 196th place due to improvements such as in their health indicator.
The most improved District this year is Lambussie Karni in the Upper West Region, which improved its score by 23 percentage points, due to increases in its sanitation and health indicators.
At the regional level, Upper West topped with 68.9 score as against 60 in 2016; whiles Greater Accra maintained its 2nd position scoring 67.4 as against 62 in 2016.
The Eastern Region which was ranked 8th in 2016 took the last position; and had the lowest average score of 61.3 as against 56 last year.
Deputy Director, Research and Programme, CDD-Ghana, Mr. Franklin Oduro, said the purpose for the national launch of the DLT was to support and foster the wellbeing of citizens wherever they may find themselves.
According to him, the league table has inspired and angered the actions of duty-bearers and citizens to pay more attention to the various districts especially with regard to development.
On her part, the UNICEF Ghana representative, Madam Rushnan Murtaza, noted that many districts are not being adequately supported with the necessary resources needed for development.
She, however, described the district league table as a useful indicator for government to access the lapses in resource allocation at the district level and find solutions to them.
Meanwhile, UNICEF’s Sarah Hague observed that though access to data is one key challenge facing the social indicator, the situation is gradually improving especially compared to that of 2016.
Launched in November 2014, the DLT provides a multi-sectoral and integrated assessment of how Ghana is developing across all its 216 districts. It has become a key tool in national dialogue, providing direction and information on Ghana’s overall level of development and highlighting parts of the country that continue to lag behind.
The DLT is also used to increase social accountability by providing and tracking essential information on the wellbeing of various districts using indicators such as Education, Sanitation, Rural Water, Health, Security and Governance.
