The Statistics Department of Montserrat (SDM) is finalising its preparations to host four regional statistics meetings, slated to begin this week.
Statisticians from several Caribbean islands to include Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Grenada, The ABC islands-Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, along with representatives from donor partners to include, the European Union, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, Statistics Canada, United Nations Population Fund and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States will start arriving on island on Wednesday, October 17 for a series of meetings.
The ‘Twenty-Third Meeting of the CARICOM Advisory Group on Statistics’; the ‘Forty-Third Meeting of the Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians (SCCS); The Twenty-Ninth Meeting of the Regional Census Coordinating Committee (RCCC) and the Eleventh Regional Statistical Research Seminar’, will be held at the Montserrat Cultural Centre in Little Bay. The meetings will be held successively from Thursday, October 18 to Friday, October 26.
The meetings will be preceded by an Opening Ceremony on Monday, October 22 starting at 9:00a.m. The ceremony will feature remarks and addresses by Government Officials, Head of Statistics at the SDM, Sylvan Roberts and the Project Director, Regional Statistics, Dr. Philomen Harrison.
Roberts said Montserrat’s ability to host these regional meetings this year is significant, not only for the benefit of the Statisticians on island who would be able to network and share ideas with regional counterparts, but also for the wider economy, as more than 30 persons are expected on island.
Roberts further noted that the last regional statistics meeting to be held in Montserrat was the Eleventh Meeting of the Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians (SCCS) in 1986 (32 years ago). “The fact that Montserrat can now host the SCCS and the other meetings is a positive indication of the advances made to redevelop the island following the volcanic crisis which began in the 90’s,” expressed Mr. Roberts.
The standing committee was established in 1973 initially to monitor and measure intraregional trade within CARICOM and trade between CARICOM countries and the rest of the world through the generation of timely and reliable Trade Statistics. The SCCS meets annually to assess the status of Member States in capacity development in these efforts; exchange methods and ideas used by the various MS and to approach development agencies as a united group to leverage funding support for Statistics development.
The meetings are being organised in association with CARICOM.
