Africa Policy Lens, a public policy think tank, has introduced two new national measurement tools aimed at capturing the real experiences of Ghanaians in governance and the economy.
The newly launched initiatives “the Governance Trust Barometer and the Ghana Wellbeing Tracker ” were presented at an event in Accra alongside their first official assessment reports.
The organization says the purpose of the two tools is to shift national discussions from statistics alone to the actual experiences of citizens, particularly how people view public institutions and cope with current economic conditions.
The Governance Trust Barometer measures the level of confidence citizens have in state institutions and democratic systems. It evaluates public opinion on issues such as corruption, transparency, accountability, electoral credibility, citizen involvement in decision-making, political stability and confidence in the rule of law.
According to officials of Africa Policy Lens, the assessment is intended to provide a broader picture of governance by examining whether citizens feel represented, heard and protected by public institutions.
Scores from the various governance indicators are combined into a national index graded on a scale of zero to one hundred.
The second initiative, the Ghana Wellbeing Tracker, focuses on the financial and social realities facing households across the country. The tracker studies the impact of rising living expenses, employment challenges, income levels, business performance and the financial resilience of families.
Data gathered from these areas are used to produce the Ghana Wellbeing Index, which also uses a one-hundred-point scale to measure the overall economic wellbeing of citizens.
Africa Policy Lens believes the findings from both tools will support informed decision-making by government, researchers and development stakeholders, while also increasing public accountability through regular citizen-centred assessments.
The think tank says the reports will be released periodically to monitor changes in governance performance and living conditions nationwide.