The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has revealed significant regional variations in progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, which focuses on achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls. According to the latest GSS report, the Greater Accra and Bono regions have the highest status of women, while the Savannah region ranks lowest.
In a news statement accompanying the report, GSS presented findings from four key areas: empowerment, violence, harmful practices, and health and nutrition. The data was drawn from the 2008, 2014, and 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (GDHS), analyzing trends across seven indicators of women’s wellbeing: secondary or higher education, informed decision-making, intimate partner violence, child marriage, teenage childbearing, facility delivery, and obesity rates.
The report noted substantial regional disparities in women’s status across these indicators. While Greater Accra and Bono regions tied for the top ranking, Savannah emerged as the lowest-performing region, ranking 16th three times for secondary education, intimate partner violence, and teenage childbearing. North East followed closely, ranking last in two categories: informed decision-making and child marriage.
The Greater Accra region stood out as the only area to rank first in multiple categories, including secondary education, informed decision-making, child marriage, and teenage childbearing.
The report also highlighted persistent gender disparities in three indicators where data for both sexes were available. For example, the North East region recorded a 17.4 percentage point gap in secondary education attainment between men and women, the highest in the country. Child marriage prevalence also varied significantly by sex, ranging from a 23.2 percentage point gap in the North East to 9.5 points in Greater Accra. The Ashanti region showed the largest sex disparity in overweight and obesity rates, with a gap of 6.1 percentage points.
The findings call for targeted interventions to address regional and gender-specific inequalities as part of the ongoing effort to meet SDG 5.
