(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community is pleased to be involved in the activities marking Caribbean Statistics Day which is being observed this year on Friday, 14 October 2011, as agreed to by the Thirty-Fifth Meeting of the Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians. This year marks the third observance of Caribbean Statistics Day, and this year’s theme is “Recognising the Essential Role of Statistics in the Development of the Caribbean Community”.

Statistics permeate our daily lives. They represent an essential component of good governance, aid in the formulation of effective business and marketing strategies, and enable access to food, shelter and other basic social services by individuals.

Statistical activities, such as the undertaking of a Population and Housing Census, help determine the answer to questions as to the size and profile of the population of a country in terms of age, sex, education, occupation. The collection of data on business and economic activity in general enables the production of information on the total goods and services that are produced, exported and imported; and provides us with the industry profile of an economy, the inflows and outflows of foreign direct investment which are all useful in measuring economic growth and development.

Administrative sources of data such as those derived from the Civil and Vital Registration Systems are used by individuals for legal purposes such as personal and property rights; for the issuing of certificates for access to education, public health, voting, marriages, verification of identity and in proving, establishing, implementing and realizing many of the human rights embodied in international declarations and conventions

From issues pertaining to population to the standard of living and the extent of poverty, the incidence of specific diseases and the conditions with respect to other social issues to the size and growth of national income and the status of trade in goods and services, statistics provide information to guide and monitor our development.

The observance of Caribbean Statistics Day across the Region therefore provides a very valuable opportunity to recognize the role of statistics as the foundation of our planning and decision-making processes. Statistics afford us the means to make decisions based on fact rather than on speculation or conjecture.

The Caribbean Community Secretariat and statistical offices throughout the Region will be observing this Day in a number of ways geared toward 1) promoting the use of statistics in the Region, 2) advocating for continued support to statistics as a scientific activity that can provide objective and reliable information on a wide spectrum of issues for planning, research, analysis and simply presenting the facts, 3) increasing recognition of the profession of statistics, and 4) the strengthening of the statistical infrastructure in every respect.

The activities being undertaken by statistical offices include: health exposition/information booths, technical seminars on the population census preliminary results; outreach to schools; inter-school quiz competition; map-reading and presentation of statistical data in schools; promotional activities on the media; and seminars on statistical activities including on the impact of statistics on the everyday lives of people.

The CARICOM Secretariat commends regional statisticians for their continued dedication and commitment as they continue to assist in the improved positioning of our countries and the development of the lives of all of the citizens of the Community.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org
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