Chairman
Senator Honourable Maxine Mc Clean, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office
Ms. Juanita Thorington-Poulett, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Energy
Mr Harold Robinson, Representative United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Office for the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean
Professor Paul Cheung, Director United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)
Representatives of National, Regional and International Organizations
Mrs Angela Hunte, Director of Statistics, Barbados Statistical Service (BSS)
Other Directors of Statistics/Chief Statisticians of the Caribbean Community
Members of Staff of the Barbados Statistical Service
Members of Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat
Other distinguished guests
Representatives of the Media

It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to: the Thirty–third Meeting of the Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians (33rd SCCS), the Sixteenth Meeting of the Regional Census Coordinating Committee (16th RCCC), and the launch of the Resources Consortium In Support to the 2010 Round of Censuses in the Caribbean Community.

At the outset, let me express the appreciation of the CARICOM Secretariat to the Government and people of Barbados for their hospitality and for the excellent arrangements made for our meetings. The staff of the Barbados Statistical Service has gone all out to ensure that we have a comfortable working environment over the next five days.

Regrettably, there is a general lack of appreciation of the critical role and importance of statistics as a strategic resource for decision-making, good governance, planning, accountability and management.

There are a number of quotations relating to statistics, such as: “98% of all statistics are made up” (Anon); or “statistics can be made to prove anything, even the truth” (Anon); or “torture numbers and they’ll confess to anything" (Gregg Easterbrook); or “there are two kinds of statistics, the kind you look up and the kind you make up” (Rex Stout); or “Satan delights equally in statistics and in quoting scripture…” (H.G. Wells); or finally, as the wise statesman, Disraeli is purported to have said: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

There is no end to the derision heaped upon statistics, but these few quotations suffice to illustrate the uncomfortable relationship we have with statistics. The fact remains, however, that statistics are vital as a tool for development: for the business of government -both day-to-day administration and policy analysis - as well as for users outside of government for business decision-making and to keep individual citizens informed about what government is doing.

In today’s increasingly inter-dependent world, driven by the movement of economic activities across borders, we in the Caribbean have sought to strategically position ourselves in the global market place by the establishment and implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

Against the backdrop of promoting Regional Integration to confront the challenges of economic survival in a highly competitive world, CARICOM has embarked on a programme under the 9th EDF called the Caribbean Integration Support Programme (CISP), of which a key component is the development of statistics capability in the Community in order to provide timely, accurate, relevant, accessible and interpretative data to enable informed policy decisions.

Statistical data analyses undertaken under this programme will contribute to the monitoring and guiding of the process of implementation of the CSME and in evaluating its operation, performance and impact on our lives, as well as the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.

As we commence our deliberations during the 33rd SCCS and the 16th RCCC we are cognisant of the challenges that are being faced in the global economy which would impact us in the Community, fuelling the demand for new data in shorter timeframes. Given the difficulties faced in recruiting and retaining statisticians, we must devise strategies that can result in the strengthening of the capacity of existing staff, professional and non-professional, and to facilitate greater cooperation among the national statistical offices through attachments and exchange visits.

Support has been provided to the CARICOM Secretariat by CIDA and the CDB for capacity building in Member States in the form of an annual course in Demographic Analysis, held in collaboration with the University of the West Indies. Over 60 persons in the Region have already been trained under these courses over the past three years. I would like to thank both CIDA and the CDB for their contribution to building capacity in the Region.

The First Regional Statistical Research Seminar which will take place in the next few days is a capacity-building mechanism that has newly been introduced to enable statistical development through cooperation across the Region, in the conduct of research involving examination of statistical methodologies, increased analysis of the data produced, and the dissemination of the research findings.

Today we take the opportunity to launch the Resources Consortium in Support to the 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses in the Caribbean Community. This facility will act as a clearinghouse for Member States and Associate Members of the Community and international agencies with a view to strengthening the coordination of resources to support CARICOM countries for the 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses. It will serve as an avenue for providing technical, financial and other related assistance to our countries to enable the successful implementation of the 2010 Round of Censuses at national and sub-regional levels. Countries will see their resources complemented by the Consortium for the planning and implementation of the 2010 Round as well as for the analyses of the data and dissemination of information.

The Consortium will also conduct advocacy activities for maintaining and strengthening political commitment within the Caribbean Community and for resource mobilisation through the sensitisation of policy makers and potential partners, as well as the development of resource mobilisation strategies, particularly those based on South-South Cooperation.

The Consortium is the product of a Cooperation Agreement between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA).

Censuses are extremely expensive and disruptive undertakings and for this reason are held infrequently. The last Census was the 2000 Round and the Secretariat is only now able to make analytical reports available to the public, thanks to assistance from CIDA. We therefore thank the UNFPA for its initiative in spearheading the Consortium in order to augment the assistance that can be provided to countries of the Caribbean Community in the upcoming 2010 Round.

The Consortium also represents a major effort by the UNFPA and CARICOM to advance South-South Cooperation in the context of the joint CARICOM-UNFPA South-South Initiative which was launched in 2006.

Not only will UNFPA jointly coordinate the Resources Consortium with CARICOM Secretariat, it has also joined the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in providing funds directly for the implementation of the CARICOM Regional Strategy of support to member countries in the 2010 Censuses.

The generosity of the UNFPA is highly appreciated, as it demonstrates once again the interest of the United Nations system in working with the Caribbean in addressing the development needs of the Region

The Secretariat has commenced the execution of its Regional Strategy of support to Member States and Associate Members for the execution of the 2010 Round of Censuses. The use of a coordinated approach to census-taking in the Region enables methodological uniformity and the comparability and collection of reliable and high-quality socio-economic data. This strategy promotes the use of uniform concepts and definitions, a common core of questions on the census questionnaires, technical co-operation, and the possibility of sharing expertise and facilities.

The UK Government, acting through the Department for International Development (DFID), has also provided tremendous financial support to the Regional Strategy of support in areas such as support to the preparatory work required in the area of mapping, census data capture and data processing. I extend the Secretariat’s appreciation for this assistance.

In closing, I should like to acknowledge the presence of all persons who are here for the first time with us at these annual meetings and, in particular, I recognise the presence of Professor Paul Cheung, Director of the United Nations Statistics Division, and Dr. Gerald Haberkorn, Manager, Statistics and Demography Programme, Secretariat of the Pacific Community. And last, but certainly not least, a man with whom we are quite familiar, Mr. Harold Robinson of the UNFPA, who will join me during this ceremony in signing the Resources Consortium Agreement.

I thank you and welcome you all as we prepare to engage in fruitful discussions over the next five days that will redound to the benefit of the integration movement and contribute to improving the quality of life of the people of the Region.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org