Remarks by Dr. Didacus Jules, Director General, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Since 2010, this Day is celebrated each year to heighten awareness about the important role official statistics play in all aspects of social and economic development of the OECS Economic Union. This awareness imposes an obligation to advocate for increased investment and for systematic and deliberate use of statistics for evidence-based, or at minimum, evidence-influenced actions.
The expectation is, this practice of using objective information, would eventually mainstream official statistics into national and regional development plans, policies and programmes and in our everyday casual debates, conversations and critique of government operations.
The facts are the facts. Evidence should inform everything we do; every recommendation that we make; every programme that we design; every policy we develop; and every strategy that we craft. Because behind each indicator, each percentage, each ratio, each graph - is an indisputable narrative about a family, a community, a business, a nation, a region!
Though statistics underpin the OECS Commission’s work, it is not only a consumer of statistics. The Commission also advocates for and facilitates increased investment in their production, dissemination and use.
So it is enormously gratifying to announce that the OECS Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics (RSDS) is at a stage to be endorsed by the OECS Economic Affairs Council and which perfectly coincides with Caribbean Statistics Day.
The OECS RSDS details, charts and schedules a 14-year master plan to transform our approaches to, processes for and perspectives about official statistics.
OECS Commission Observes Caribbean Statistics Day
Our theme Revolutionising Our Statistics | Developing Our Societies succinctly captures exactly what we intend to achieve; how we intend to do it; why we need to do it and for whom we need to do it.
I wish to place on record my sincere and deepest appreciation for the collaborative work that culminated in this forwarding thinking master plan for official statistics.
I acknowledge all those involved for their very important contributions that can redound to the success of our One Community, Working Together: the key players in the national statistical system in each Member State; development partners; staff at the Commission; and certainly the heads of the national statistical offices who are expected to be at the fore-front of this transformative agenda.
The observance of Caribbean Statistics Day, through the lens of the OECS Economic Union, singles out six essential issues:
First, it gives us an opportunity to acknowledge, give due acclaim to and to celebrate our achievements. In that regard, observance of this Day allows us to thank our partners and contributors for their efforts to produce the data we need for prudent decision-making, policy development and evaluation, and debates and everyday life choices.
This occasion sensitizes stakeholders, non-governmental organisations, research institutions, the media and all data providers – households and businesses – about why official statistics are indispensable to national planning, and the significance of their role in their production and responsible use.
Second, Caribbean Statistics Day offers a platform to emphasise the role of the OECS Commission as the leader of the OECS regional statistical system with the principal responsibility to preserve data comparability across the Member States.
Data comparability is an important characteristic of regional data as it allows us to implement the provisions of the Revised Treaty of Basseterre for a single economic and financial space. In that regard, the Commission supports the Member States to use harmonised methods and standardised systems to ensure that the product of the statistical process looks the same from country to country.
Third, Caribbean Statistics Day forces us to reflect on what we have achieved and what still needs to be done. Among the achievements to deliver comparative data are: