The Gambia Government is setting up a national Social Registry, dubbed The Gambia Social Registry (GamSR), a socio-economic data base that aims to enhance social protection interventions across the country. With the exception of Banjul and Kanifing Municipality, household data of the rest of the country have been collected by GBoS. As preparations are being concluded for the start of the Social Registry data collection exercise in Kanifing Municipality and Banjul, Madam Isatou Davies Ann, Director, Department of Information Services (DOIS), whose institution leads the Public Information Campaign (PIC) on the GamSR, has called on household heads to register their households with enumeration teams from GBoS. Madam Davies made this call shortly after a meeting with her team leading the Public Information Campaign in Banjul and Kanifing Municipality.
She explained that Social Registry is a key tool for the integration and coordination of social protection systems in the country. She said it is a duty on every household head to ensure that your household is registered on this national database regardless of their status. On the issue of personal data falling in wrong hands, she highlighted that Social Registry has taken consideration of the key principles for personal data protection; and therefore assured people’s data will remain confidential and protected.
The Director acknowledged that generally there is fatigue towards data collection but expressed optimism that with the ongoing vigorous public sensitisations efforts and vast experience of supervisors and data collectors from GBoS refusal will minimised. Finally Madam Davies Ann thanked the National Social Protection Secretariat for the confidence it had on the Department of Information Services to lead the Public Information Campaign prior to the data collection.
