September focus on statistics

The Caribbean Community( CARICOM) Secretariat earlier this month participated in a series of meetings that were geared at promoting the production and use of quality statistics in the Region.

CARICOM Secretariat representatives participated in sessions on Disability Measurement Statistics in Bridgetown, Barbados, and the Caribbean Conference on Transformative Agenda for Official Statistics, also in Barbados.

In remarks at the Meeting on Disability Measurement Statistics, Director, Regional Statistics at the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr. Philomen Harrison, pointed out that the area was an important one, given its focus on one of the most vulnerable groups in society.

“The area of statistics on persons with disabilities is an important one given its focus on one of the most vulnerable groups in our society and also from the perspective that many of us are perhaps already partially there, or are getting there, or will get there in time.

 I am sure therefore that the recommendations coming out of this meeting will be able to indicate what is feasible to be measured concretely and also based on the capacity constraints so inherent in countries,” Dr. Harrison said.

She said that while it was an area that was relatively new to the Region. The main initiative that the region took, she pointed out, was the inclusion of Disability Measurement Statistics in the core questionnaire that was developed by Member States for the 2010 Census Round.

“Our checks on the suggested questions on Disability showed that there was appreciable adoption of the recommended questions by Member countries and therefore some baseline information from the 2010 census should be available and disseminated,” she added.

Transformative Agenda for Official Statistics

At the meeting that dealt with the Transformative Agenda for Official Statistics, Dr. Harrison traced the steps the Community had taken so far. These included the Second High Level Advocacy Forum (HLF) on Statistics held in Grenada and the recent endorsement by CARICOM Heads of Government  of the Action Plan for Statistics. The Plan was prepared by the Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians.

“This high level meeting on the transformative agenda is therefore timely in that it can build on the successes of the Second HLF and assist in our efforts that we must pursue in ensuring that the Action Plan for Statistics is implemented across the Region while at the same time taking on board the wider global /regional statistical community,” she said.

The Transformative Agenda themes and the Action Plan for Statistics find common ground in many areas including in data collection, processing and dissemination; innovation and modernisation via the use of Information and Communication Technologies; promotion careers in statistics, training and capacity-building; Communication and advocacy; and coordination between the global and regional statistical systems.

Among the decisions taken were to:

• Continue the  momentum for data driven decisions and deepening the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework in regional and national development priorities, programmes and planning mechanisms;
• Strengthen the communication and advocacy programmes and activities within countries and across the region including facilitating a Communication (Public Relations and Information) unit within NSOs where feasible;
• Establish National Statistical Councils to enhance the modernisation and transformation process;
• Develop mechanisms needed to facilitate timely collection of source data from administrative records and from surveys and censuses;
• Support the development and application of the Common Statistical Production Architecture (CSPA);
• Identify and coordinate domestic and external resources to strategically address the capacity needs, identify resource gaps and to set priorities;
• Create opportunities for participation of non-state actors in funding statistical activities through innovative financing mechanisms using means consistent with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics.

The next steps will include a Consultation of Global Action Plan and Regional Action Plan scheduled for November 2016. The final report, including concrete proposal for the drafting and implementing national and regional action plans on the Transformative Agenda for data, statistics and innovation is due to be submitted to the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) in March, 2017.