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guyanatimesgy.com
FRIday, may 30, 2014
Greater attention needed to statistics – Caricom high-level forum hears
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articipants at a highlevel meeting on Monday underscored the need for increased advocacy for more official commitment to statistics and the mobilisation of additional resources for the field. Those were among the issues that stakeholders in the field of statistics identified as critically important to the overall development of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). Senior Government officials, decision-makers, statisticians, and representatives of international organisations gathered for the one-day, intense, high-level advocacy forum on statistics in St George’s, Grenada. Lack of sufficient funding, lack of a statistical culture and inadequate succession planning were identified as some of the major challenges in the field. At the forum’s opening ceremony, and during the panel discussions that followed, investment in the field was recognised as imperative to its further development and the ability to translate statistics to good decision-making, nationally and regionally. This was particularly obvious, they recognised, in the context of the economic chal-
ment of our region,” he said. He added that he looked forward to being an advocate for the conclusions from the forum in Caricom and elsewhere. Prime Minister Mitchell also sounded the call for more resources to be allocated to statistics, and advanced the recommendation of a regional approach to help optimise scarce resources.
More govt funding
Grenada’s Economic Development, Planning, Trade, Energy and Cooperatives Minister Oliver Joseph lenges facing the region and efforts to reduce poverty; the negotiations for the Post2015 Development Agenda; and the community’s commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Leading the charge in acknowledging the necessity for increased advocacy, Grenada's Prime Minister, Dr Keith Mitchell, urged participants to use him as an advocate. “As a person trained in this field myself, I do feel a heightened sense of responsibility to ensure that we raise the bar of this important variable in the advance-
Grenada’s Economic Development, Planning, Trade, Energy and Cooperatives Minister Oliver Joseph, echoed the call for more government funding to be allocated to sourcing data. He also stressed the need for common standards throughout the region and partnerships with the governments, private sector, non-governmental organisations so as to generate an appreciation for statistics and its impact on development. There was need to involve everyone so there was a clear understanding about how figures were arrived at so there could be broadbased acceptance, he reasoned. The importance of the creation of partnerships was also underscored by Statistical Institute of
Anti-drugs sleuths must be fully vetted before DEA presence – Hardt
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efore any Drug E n f o r c e m e n t Administration (DEA) Unit is established here, local anti-drug agents will have to be fully vetted in order to reduce the likelihood of them breaching strategies that would be enforced, US Ambassador to Guyana, D Brent Hardt said on Thursday. He was responding to questions regarding the long-talked-about setting up of a DEA office in Guyana to stem the tide of trafficking. Guyana is viewed as a transshipment point for cocaine going to Europe and North America, and according to the Ambassador, the establishment of the office in Guyana is not an automatic process. “… part of a process for DEA working, they like to have a vetted unit which they are confident they can work with and share sensitive information with and really work in elevated partnership. So I think that is one of the core building blocks to getting DEA here,” Hardt told reporters following the signing of the Third Amendment to the Letter of Agreement on Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement between Guyana and the US (see story on page 16), which he said will see some US$850,000 being plugged
into various programmes, including establishing a fully vetted counter-narcotics unit. Hardt noted that the vetting process would include ranks being screened via lie detector tests and background checks being made. The Ambassador explained that there have been some delays in getting the DEA here due to budgetary issues faced in the US; however, he noted that they are currently in the process of overcoming this hurdle. In an interview with the media earlier this year, Ambassador Hardt had explained that there was discussion on the DEA in December. He said that the delay in establishing the DEA here is because of budgetary constraints and getting approval on the US side.
Covered
Nevertheless, the Ambassador had pointed out that despite the US not having a DEA presence in Guyana, the country has been covered by the DEA office in Trinidad for some time. The Ambassador noted that US DEA officials work closely with the Guyana Police Force and other law enforcement agencies. “We have excellent relations that have been go-
ing on for some time so even though we don’t physically have an office here, we have DEA officers who are in the country regularly, liaising and trying to build cases cause that’s what DEA really brings to the table: its ability to build cases against major traffickers,” the Ambassador had stated. Hardt, whose tenure in Guyana will be up soon, explained that from the time he was posted to Guyana, he has made it a priority to lobby for a DEA office here and has managed to make some headway. The US Ambassador clarified that the non-implementation of the US DEA office here has nothing to do with any hindrance from the Government, but has to do mainly with sourcing resources and processing. “When you see drug trends around the region, around the world, certainly we think there is value in having a stronger DEA presence here,” Hardt stated. On the other hand, Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett reassured of the Government’s commitment and support for the establishment of a US DEA office in Guyana. She told the media that “we are ready on our side to do whatever we have to do to get the DEA office here,” he said.
Jamaica Director General Carol Coy. “We have to improve what we are doing; we have to make ourselves relevant to attract funding and the support that is needed and partnerships are critical,” she said during the final session of the forum. Grenada’s Director of Statistics Halim Brizan said greater investment in statistics would ultimately lead to better decision-making which, in turn, would lead to better development outcomes. He called for the creation of the appropriate environment to develop statistics The value of data could not be underestimated and investing in it would yield long-term and short-term re-
turns, Operations Officer of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), McDonald Thomas, said. He outlined the bank’s intervention in regional statistics and gave the commitment to continue to support its borrowing members to boost their statistical capacity. “CDB recognises the value of this forum in obtaining strengthened highlevel commitment by governments of Caricom to national and regional statistical capacity-building as a central element of the region’s Post-2015 sustainable development framework. Along with other development partners viz CIDA, DFID and UNDP, the bank has contributed over US$6 million since 1995 to as-
sist countries with the conduct of Country Poverty Assessments,” Thomas said. In addition to providing statistics on the nature and characteristics of poverty in the countries, those assessments have resulted in the production of rich national data sets on human and social development for the first time. Central statistics offices were also better equipped and a cadre of persons with skills at various levels in conducting household research was built. He added that similar investments were made over the years to enhance national trade, economic and environmental data, but he acknowledged that there was still some ways to go.
Students of Charlestown, Dolphin Secondary Schools undergoing behavioural change
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he Education Ministry Schools Welfare Department has embarked upon several weeks of behavioural change intervention with selected groups of students of the Charlestown Secondary and Dolphin Secondary schools. The intervention sessions came as a result of reports of frequent fights between students from the two schools. The continuous quarrels between the students prompted the department to engage the attention of the Police who now would patrol the areas frequently. As a result, the fights and quarrels have since de-
clined. The ongoing sessions provide opportunities to teach the children about the importance of respect, conflict management, communication skills and values, among others. Chief School Welfare Officer Glenna Bailey Vyphius said sessions at each school will run for six weeks. To culminate the weeks of behavioural change training, the Ministry will issue a certificate of participation to each child. Vyphius said that her department intends to take the same programme to other schools in the new school term.