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GEORGETOWN, Guyana – “I want to encourage us to be led by evidence,” Marsha Caddle, minister of economic affairs and planning, office of the prime minister of Barbados, told experts emphatically during the 35th meeting of the CARICOM Advisory Group on Statistics (AGS). The week-long technical meeting in Barbados is being convened by the CARICOM Secretariat in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF.
The minister reflected on current conversations about falling fertility, aging, and immigration occurring in her country and in other parts of the world and the anecdotes that appear to be fueling the discourse. “It is also important to establish a single source of truth,” she added, pointing out that it is critical to know why data matters – and characterised statisticians as the “unsung heroes of evidence-based policymaking in the region.” The minister called for more investment in data gathering.
A wide-ranging agenda at the meeting deals with pressing issues such as the implementation of the Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics (RSDS) and reviewing and refining the Draft Regional Census Strategy for the 2030 Population and Housing Census Round. It will also consider the proposed establishment of the CARICOM Regional Population Commission. A key feature will be the Dialogue on South-South Cooperation in Census Readiness, which will bring together CARICOM member states, development partners, and technical experts of the government of India to exchange technical expertise and explore innovations in census preparation.
The dialogue forms part of the ‘Enhancing Census Preparedness in the Caribbean’ initiative, supported by the UN-India Sustainable Development Goals Country Fund, and is expected to strengthen regional readiness for the 2030 census round.
Halim Brizan, director of the regional statistics programme at the CARICOM Secretariat, said the meeting is happening at a pivotal moment in the development of statistics in CARICOM, highlighting the region’s preparation for the 2030 Round of Population and Housing Census, and the assessment of CARICOM’s progress in implementing its RSDS.
“The overarching objective of this 35th meeting of the AGS is to advance the implementation of the RSDS. During this meeting, we will also exchange experiences on the RSDS implementation framework, CARICOM’s regional mechanisms for South-South Cooperation and consider the establishment of the CARICOM Regional Population Commission among other important initiatives,” he said in opening remarks.
In his address, Shohrat Orazov, planning, monitoring and evaluation specialist for the UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area, underscored the importance of reliable, timely and comparable data to effective policy-making, particularly as Caribbean countries navigate increasingly complex social and climate-related challenges.
“Strong statistical systems not only help us understand these challenges but also enable governments and partners to design more effective responses and measures to progress over time,” he said.
Jenny Karlsen, deputy director of the UNFPA Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean, contextualised the meeting as an effort benefiting from cross-country collaboration on statistics. Karlsen referred to the importance of demographic data as the foundation of decision-making across government sectors and acknowledged the unique challenges the region faces in collecting and disseminating data – added that 2026 is “a year of urgency and opportunity,” in developing new approaches.
“As the 2030 Census round begins, the Caribbean Community stands to benefit from the strong technical and strategic relationships that its member states share, embodied in the Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics, as well as common initiatives in capacity strengthening.
The advisory group on statistics provides a strong platform to leverage ongoing collaboration and to think strategically about how to collect and use population data over the coming years,” she stressed.
– Please watch the opening ceremony of the 35th AGS here.
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