UN donates US$721,400 to Central Statistical Office

THE UN has given a US$721,400 grant to the Central Statistical Office (CSO) to help compile local data relevant to the UN's 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), with this initiative formally launched on Tuesday at a function at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.

The SDGs include gender equity, human rights and poverty eradication. Over the next 24 months, five UN agencies – PAHO/WHO, ILO, UNEP, ECLAC and the Resident Co-ordinator's Office – will work with government, business, academia and NGOs to improve TT's national statistical system to provide data for analysis, reporting, and the mainstreaming of human rights and gender into national policy.

UN resident co-ordinator Dennis Zulu told the gathering that TT's data was not digitised and that many local agencies work in silos, including some in the UN.

He said the CSO will get US$33,000 in computers through the SDG project.

Netherlands ambassador Raphael Varga van Kibed said his country's agency Statistics Netherlands had helped TT to develop statistical indicators during the covid19 pandemic and had a long record helping this country to develop expertise and best practice in data handling. He hoped this protect would now help TT to improve its collection and use of data on all 17 SDGs.

Planning Minister Pennelope Beckles said the initiative was a milestone in the modernisation of TT's statistical ecosystem and a red-letter day for TT.

Justifying the need for data, she remarked, "What gets measured, gets done." Beckles hoped to see an improved data collection of all 17 SDGs, saying, "Our lives rely on data to inform service delivery."

Afterwards, Newsday sought a status update on the proposed National Statistical Institute of TT (NSITT), intended to replace the CSO.

CSO acting director of statistics Andre Blanchard said, pending the passage of legislation to create the NSITT to replace the CSO, a lot of work was happening, including the adoption of new technologies and new technologies such as devices presented earlier by the UN to the CSO.

Asked how the NSITT would differ from the CSO, he said the latter would have a greater authority to collect data from stakeholders.

"We'll have a greater authority also to collect administrative data, data which already exists in the system. Countries worldwide are making better use of administrative data.

"If data already exists, why do you have to carry out surveys to obtain it. We'll save money and save time."

Beckles chimed in to welcome the application of these changes to the collection of data on the SDGs.

"We think there will be a lot more confidence in the data because of the aspect of the co-ordination."

Newsday asked if the CSO had suffered any particular impediment in the timeliness of its data collection, unlike the proposed NSITT.

Blanchard said timeliness relied on developing one's technical capacity.

"Just have a higher level of staff, of more professional type staff, with degrees in statistics, demography, sampling methodologies. We really relied on an old human resource structure.

"The new NSITT will have an updated human resource structure to allow us to be more flexible to enable us to go into new areas of statistics and explore new technologies."

He said the CSO, like most statistical agencies, had traditionally relied on just four types of data – GDP, Labour Force, Trade, and Inflation.

"But we have other data we need to produce, like data for women's use, children, equality, poverty. Those have been exacerbated by the need to provide data for the SDGs and Vision 2030."

Blanchard said the NSITT will be a more flexible agency, that could explore new areas with new technologies. "Greater authority to collect data will affect timeliness."

Beckles said the requirements to collect SDG data, means the provision of staff must be up to scratch.

"You reduce your likelihood of people questioning your accuracy."

She recalled that as TT's representative to the UN, a constant theme in discussions had been "Where's your data? Where's your data?"

Blanchard said the CSO would be the co-ordinator of SDG data.

Newsday asked if data collection bodies should also make recommendations for the applied use of the data, such as highlighting an observed spike in particular NCDs.

Beckles said such data would be given to the Ministry of Health to let the country make better decisions by a coordinated approach.

Meera Ramesar, director of socio-economic planning and acting deputy permanent secretary in the Planning Ministry, said data from the CSO was used to plan policies which can be viewed in Vision 2030.

"There's an entire chapter on data, which points us in certain policy directions. So we use the data to do our policy planning. We use the data that is generated to inform policy."