GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries are observing Caribbean Statistics Day on Wednesday amidst concerns that investment in statistics remains a challenge despite the significant role it plays in development.
“The demand for statistics is expected to increase in the post-2015 development era and therefore a data revolution will require intensified efforts to address the deficiencies that still exist,’ CARICOM Secretary General Irwin La Rocque said in a message marking the occasion.
He said he hoped this year’s observance of Statistics Day would prove to be “a catalyst for the data revolution to aid sustainable development of our region”.
Rocque said that research and development and innovation has been identified as a key area of intervention in all the strategic priorities of CARICOM’s first ever five-year Strategic Plan (2015-2019), which was approved by regional leaders last July.
“The role of statistics is therefore fundamental to achieving the goals and objectives of the Plan,” La Rocque said, adding that Caribbean Statistics Day serves as a mechanism to garner a greater profile for statistics in the Community and promote a culture of evidence-based decision-making in the region.
“The commemoration is also a means of recognizing the crucial role of statistics across a wide spectrum of activities – from daily decision-making of individuals, businesses and students to planning, policy-making and research among governments, academia, scientists and other users.”
Caribbean Statistics Day is being observed under the theme “Data Revolution for Sustainable Development in CARICOM – Designing and Operationalising a Framework for Statistics in the Post-2015 Development Agenda”.
La Rocque said that such an agenda has already begun to take shape with the establishment by the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
He said statistics is a vital part of the development agenda but investment in statistics remains a challenge.
“The CARICOM Secretariat continues to work with member states to improve the coverage, reliability and quality of the traditional areas of statistics and to develop frameworks to measure new and emerging issues,” he added.
He said the Second High-Level Advocacy Forum on Statistics issued a call for commitment by governments of the region to strengthen the national statistical systems as a key means of sustaining the development and availability of timely, high-quality and relevant statistics for decision-making, and for the empowerment of citizens of the entire region.
