Thrive Ghana ECD Dashboard

User Manual

Author

Clinton Oyogo

Published

April 10, 2026

1 Introduction

Welcome to the Thrive Early Childhood Development (ECD) Dashboard — an interactive web-based tool for exploring high-resolution spatial data on key ECD indicators across Ghana.

This manual is intended for policy analysts, programme officers, researchers, and any user who wants to navigate and interpret the dashboard’s maps, layers, and statistical outputs. It walks through every component of the dashboard: the navigation tabs, sidebar controls, map interactions, and data table features.
This dashboard was developed under Thrive to provide an interactive visualisation of high-resolution Early Childhood Development (ECD) indicators across Ghana. It integrates spatial modelling, household survey data, and geospatial covariates to produce fine-scale estimates that support policy planning, resource allocation, and monitoring of essential child services following WHO Nurturing Care Framework.

About Thrive: Thrive is a multi-country programme supporting countries to translate evidence on early childhood development into practical, scalable, low-cost programmes. This dashboard was developed under Thrive to provide interactive visualization of high-resolution ECD indicators across Ghana.

2 Getting Started

2.1 Accessing the Dashboard

The dashboard runs in any modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari). No installation is required. Navigate to the URL provided by your administrator to open the dashboard.

2.2 Dashboard Layout Overview

The dashboard is organized into three main areas:

Area Location Purpose
Header / Navigation Bar Top of the page Switch between the three main tabs
Sidebar Left panel (visible on map tabs) Select layers and summary statistics
Main Panel Central/right area Displays maps, charts, and tables

3 Navigation Tabs

The dark green navigation bar at the top of the dashboard contains three tabs. Click any tab to switch views.

3.1 About Tab

The About tab is the default landing page when you first open the dashboard. It provides:

  • Project context — A description of the Thrive programme and the purpose of the dashboard, explaining how small area estimation and predictive modelling techniques are used to generate fine-scale ECD estimates across Ghana.
  • ECD Indicator definitions — A reference list of all eight indicators available in the dashboard, with brief descriptions of what each one measures (see Section 7 for the full list).
  • How the maps were created — A brief explanation of how the maps were created.
  • How to interpret the maps — A brief explanation on how to interpret the values on the maps.
  • Dashboard structure — How the dashboard is organized.

Tip: The About tab is the landing page of the dashboard, this is by design so that you read through the About tab first before exploring the maps. It provides important context for interpreting the spatial patterns you will see.

3.2 High Resolution Map Tab

The High Resolution Map tab is the primary analytical view. It displays a 1km x 1km map of your selected ECD indicator overlaid on Ghana’s administrative boundaries.

Key features of this tab:

  • A sidebar for selecting the layer type, indicator, and summary statistic
  • A district search field to zoom to any district in Ghana
  • A reset button that appears after a district is selected, allowing you to return to the full Ghana view
  • An interactive map with hover labels and a colour-coded legend

See Section 5 for full details.

3.3 Zonal Statistics Tab

The Zonal Statistics tab provides a complementary district-level view of ECD data. Instead of the 1km x 1km map, it shows a a color-coded map where each district is shaded according to its Mean ECD Index value.

This tab also includes:

  • A data table listing each district and its mean ECD index value, with search and sort functionality
  • A Download CSV button to export the data
  • Interactive row selection in the table that highlights the corresponding district on the map

See Section 6 for full details.

4 Sidebar Controls

The sidebar appears on the left side of the screen when you are on the High Resolution Map tab. It contains all the controls for choosing what data is displayed on the map.

4.1 Layer Type Selector

Label: Layer Type

This dropdown determines the overall category of data to display on the map. There are two options:

Option Description
ECD Indicator Displays a single ECD indicator (e.g., Access to Water, ANC). The ECD Indicator and Summary Statistic selectors become visible.
Weighted Index Displays a composite index that combines all ECD indicators into a single weighted score on a 0–1 scale. The ECD Indicator and Summary Statistic selectors are hidden.

Tip: Start with ECD Indicator to explore individual dimensions of child wellbeing. Switch to Weighted Index for an overall view of ECD performance across the country.

4.2 ECD Indicator Selector

Label: ECD Indicator

This dropdown is visible only when ECD Indicator is selected as the Layer Type. It lists all eight available indicators:

Category Indicator What it measures Source concept
Health ANC Proportion of women aged 15–49 who received four or more ante-natal care visits Maternal health
Health PNC Proportion of mothers and newborns who have postnatal contact with a health provider within two days of delivery Maternal health
Nutrition Early Breastfeeding Proportion of infants born within the last 2 years who were put to the breast within one hour of birth Infant nutrition
Nutrition Exclusive Breastfeeding Proportion of infants aged 0–5 months who were fed exclusively with breastmilk in the 24 hours prior to the survey Infant nutrition
Early Learning Books at Home Proportion of children under 5 who have 3 or more children’s books at home Early learning environment
Safety and Security Birth Registration Proportion of children under age 5 who were reported to be registered with civil authorities Civil registration
Safety and Security Access to Water Proportion of households using an improved drinking water source where collection time is not more than 30 minutes for a round-trip including queuing WASH
Safety and Security Sanitation Proportion of households using an improved sanitation facility that is not shared with other households WASH

All indicators are standardized to a 0–1 scale, where values closer to 1 indicate better outcomes.

Note: When Weighted Index is selected as the Layer Type, this selector is hidden and a single composite layer is displayed instead.

4.3 Summary Statistic Selector

Label: Summary Statistic

This dropdown is visible only when ECD Indicator is selected as the Layer Type. It controls which statistical estimate of the selected indicator is mapped. Four options are available:

Option Description Value Range
Mean The average predicted value across the pixel (default) 0 – 1
Lower The lower bound of the 95% credible interval 0 – 1
Upper The upper bound of the 95% credible interval 0 – 1
SD The standard deviation — a measure of uncertainty in the estimate 0 – 0.5

Tip: Use Mean for standard analysis. Use Lower and Upper together to assess the range of uncertainty around estimates. Use SD to identify areas where model predictions are less certain — high SD values (darker red on the map) indicate greater uncertainty.

5 High Resolution Map Tab

5.1 Overview

This tab displays a 1km x 1km map of the selected ECD indicator or weighted index across Ghana. District boundaries are overlaid on the raster to provide geographic context.

5.3 Reset Map Button

The Reset Map button appears automatically only after a district has been selected. It is hidden when no district is selected.

Clicking Reset Map will:

  1. Remove the purple district highlight from the map.
  2. Zoom the map back out to show the full extent of Ghana.
  3. Clear the district search field, restoring the placeholder text.

5.4 Map Layers

The raster layer on the map changes whenever you update the Layer Type, ECD Indicator, or Summary Statistic in the sidebar. The map re-renders automatically — no need to click a refresh button.

Colour scale: All layers use a diverging red-to-green palette:

Colour Meaning
🔴 Red (#d7191c) Low values (poor outcomes or high SD)
🟡 Yellow (#ffffbf) Moderate / mid-range values
🟢 Green (#1a9641) High values (good outcomes or low SD)

Note for SD layers: The colour scale is fixed at 0–0.5 rather than 0–1, because standard deviation values are typically smaller in magnitude than mean estimates.

5.5 Map Legend

A legend appears in the bottom-left corner of the map whenever a layer is active. It shows:

  • The colour ramp for the current layer
  • The value range (0–1 for most layers; 0–0.5 for SD)
  • The name of the layer and, where applicable, the summary statistic in brackets (e.g., Access to Water (Mean))

The legend updates automatically when you switch indicators or summary statistics.

5.6 Hover Labels

Hovering your mouse over any district polygon on the map displays a tooltip showing the district name. This works regardless of whether a raster layer is loaded.

6 Zonal Statistics Tab

6.1 Overview

The Zonal Statistics tab provides a district-level summary view. Unlike the High Resolution Map tab which shows the 1km x 1km maps, this tab aggregates values to the district level and displays them as a color-coded map alongside a data table.

6.2 Color-coded Map

The left panel of this tab contains a map where each district is shaded according to its Mean ECD Index (Linear) value. The colour scale runs from red (low) to green (high), consistent with the High Resolution Map tab.

Interacting with the map:

  • Hover over any district to see a tooltip showing the district name and its exact Mean ECD Index value (rounded to 3 decimal places).
  • Click a row in the data table on the right to highlight the corresponding district on the map with a red outline (see Section 6.5).

6.3 Legend

A legend is displayed in the bottom-right corner of the color-coded map. It shows the colour ramp and value range for the Mean ECD Index (Linear) across all districts.

6.4 Data Table

The right panel of the Zonal Statistics tab contains an interactive data table listing all districts and their Mean ECD Index values.

Table columns:

Column Description
District The name of the administrative district (ADM2 level)
Mean ECD Index Linear The district’s mean ECD composite index value, rounded to 3 decimal places

Table features:

  • Search: Type in the search box above the table to filter districts by name or value.
  • Sort: Click any column header to sort the table in ascending or descending order.
  • Scroll: The table is scrollable — up to 20 rows are shown per page, with pagination controls at the bottom.

6.5 Table–Map Interaction

Clicking a row in the data table will highlight the corresponding district on the color-coded map with a red outline. This makes it easy to locate a specific district geographically after finding it in the table.

To highlight a different district, simply click another row. The previous highlight will be removed and the new district will be outlined.

6.6 Downloading Data

A Download CSV button is located below the data table. Clicking it will download a .csv file named Ghana_Mean_ECD_Index.csv containing all districts and their Mean ECD Index values.

This file can be opened in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or any data analysis software for further exploration.

7 ECD Indicators Reference

All indicators are standardized to a 0–1 scale to enable comparison across different domains.

Category Indicator What it measures Source concept
Health ANC Proportion of women aged 15–49 who received four or more ante-natal care visits Maternal health
Health PNC Proportion of mothers and newborns who have postnatal contact with a health provider within two days of delivery Maternal health
Nutrition Early Breastfeeding Proportion of infants born within the last 2 years who were put to the breast within one hour of birth Infant nutrition
Nutrition Exclusive Breastfeeding Proportion of infants aged 0–5 months who were fed exclusively with breastmilk in the 24 hours prior to the survey Infant nutrition
Early Learning Books at Home Proportion of children under 5 who have 3 or more children’s books at home Early learning environment
Safety and Security Birth Registration Proportion of children under age 5 who were reported to be registered with civil authorities Civil registration
Safety and Security Access to Water Proportion of households using an improved drinking water source where collection time is not more than 30 minutes for a round-trip including queuing WASH
Safety and Security Sanitation Proportion of households using an improved sanitation facility that is not shared with other households WASH

8 Frequently Asked Questions

What does the 0–1 scale mean? Proportions of coverage in a pixel. Values close to zero represent poor coverage and vice versa.

What is the Weighted Index? The Weighted Index is calculated by combining all 8 indicators with weights that equally represent each category of the WHO Nurturing Care Framework for which we have data (Health, Nutrition, Early Learning, and Safety and Security). This is meant to account for the fact that indicators across all dimensions of nurturing care are not equally available, and some indicators did not pass model validation and therefore are not included here. For example, we have 3 indicators that represent the Safety and Security category, but only one within the dimension of Early Learning. The weighted index aims to adjust for this by assigning an equal weight to each category of the Nurturing Care Framework.

Can I download the raster data (the gridded dataset - the .tif file)? Currently the dashboard supports CSV download of district-level zonal statistics only (from the Zonal Statistics tab). For access to raw raster files, please contact the Thrive data team.

Don’t we have a download button for the map? Well, that feature was not possible to implement due to some technicalities. But you can just take a screenshot of the view you want.

9 Support and Contact

For technical issues with the dashboard, or questions about the underlying data and methodology, please contact the Thrive programme team:

  • Clinton: clinton.david@opml.co.uk
  • Ida: ida.brzezinska@opml.co.uk

Manual version: 1.0 | Dashboard: Thrive ECD Mapping — Ghana