CIFAL Banjul is a partnership between the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the University of The Gambia which was launched June 2023. “The initiative is to provide a wide range of learning opportunities, facilitate knowledge sharing, improve decision making, encourage sustainable development and strengthen the capacities of leaders and authorities in the development sector.”
Nyakassi M.B. Sanyang, statistician general at GBoS said data analysis is important in national development because decisions are made on the basis of informed data driven research.
“These two software we are supposed to be trained on (STATA and SPSS) are among the most complete integrated statistical software widely used. They can help solve a lot of data problems,” he held.
Mr Sanyang highlighted the need for evidence based planning, programming and statistics.
He also called for continuous collaboration with the university to continue building capacities.
He advised the participants not to neglect what they learn rather to continuously engage in practical exercise with the software after the training if they want to be experts.
Professor Herbert Robinson, vice chancellor of UTG in delivering his opening statement said he believed that what they offer is critical for evidence based policy making. “The training will take you through the basic features of STATA and APSS to give you the foundation you need to be able to handle it yourself.”
