The Bauchi State Commissioner for Budget, Economic Planning and Multilateral Coordination, Amina Mohammed Katagum, has urged Directors of Planning, Research, and Statistics (DPRS) to be more versatile and proactive in all planning processes to effectively guide their respective ministries.
She made the call at a three-day training workshop for DPRS and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) officers on data management, organized by the Ministry in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Katagum emphasized that accurate and reliable data is fundamental to effective planning, as it enables government to design informed programmes and policies.
“Planning is teamwork, and to strengthen the process, the State Government has established a Bureau for Statistics,” she said.
The Commissioner commended UNFPA for its collaboration and support in training 53 DPRS and M&E officers, describing the initiative as vital for evidence-based planning and decision-making.
UNFPA Gender and Reproductive Health Analyst and Bauchi State Programme Officer, Deborah Tabara, said one of the organization’s key mandates is building institutional capacity to analyze and use disaggregated data for monitoring goals and indicators.
According to her, significant progress has been made toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including addressing unmet needs for family planning, preventing maternal deaths, and eliminating gender-based violence and other harmful practices — achievements made possible through improved data and analytical tools.
“However, these progresses are not uniform, as marginalized communities and vulnerable populations are still being left behind,” she noted.
Tabara explained that to bridge the data gap, UNFPA is partnering with the Ministry to strengthen the capacity of DPRS officers to collect, collate, and analyze context-specific data. This, she said, will guide baseline analyses, planning, programme design, monitoring, and reporting — leading to informed decision-making for Bauchi State’s development.
“I want to reiterate UNFPA’s commitment to work with Bauchi State to harness the power of inclusive data for informed decision-making in policy development, planning, and budgeting that promote inclusivity and equality,” she added.
