A recently-held regional high-level seminar on statistics saw participants calling on CARICOM member states to ensure that adequate resources are provided for the timely conduct of the 2020 Round of Population and Housing Census.
According to a CARICOM press release, the day-long seminar held at the Grenada trade Centre in St. George’s attracted participation from regional governments, Community institutions and international development partners and focussed on the Census and its role in the implementation of the Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics (RSDS). Stakeholders also wanted the timely dissemination of the Census results.
Common tools which were recommended for the dissemination of Census data in the 2020 Census Round include, REDATAM, CensusInfo, and GIS-web-enabled Census e-portals.
The CARICOM Statistics System (CSS) is planning a paperless exercise for this Round of Census and this drew robust discussion at the seminar, especially with respect to the types of equipment and software that would best fit the circumstances of the Caribbean.
Participants had interactive sessions on the Regional Strategy for the Census in the Caribbean; Census Management and Planning with emphasis on delivering high quality census results, and the challenges and lessons learned for the RSDS implementation. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Census exercise, and promoting and enabling Information Technology (IT) applications in the RSDS were also discussed, as was the effective data dissemination using REDATAM.
The seminar also stressed the importance on the use of up-to-date ICT techniques in the Census activity that would not only enable greater efficiency in Census-taking and delivery of timely Census results, but would benefit the ICT infrastructure in the entire statistical system, thus promoting IT as a key enabler of the RSDS. Also emphasised was the importance of the Population and Housing Census as an integrated programme of the CSS, and the decision to have it implemented as part of the RSDS.
The discussion underscored the vital importance of the Census in treating with natural disasters, climate change and with the status of special population groups such as the ageing population, persons with disabilities, women, children, youths, particularly unemployed/school dropouts, persons living below the poverty line, persons in situations of crime and violence and in other situations of vulnerabilities.
Stakeholders also emphasised the importance of the Census in providing information for monitoring the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) for enabling the implementation of the SAMOA Pathway; for achieving regional integration through the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and in the monitoring of National Development Plans.
