(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) A Resources Consortium in Support of the 2010 Population and Housing Censuses in the Caribbean Community was launched on Monday 27 October at a Meeting of Caribbean Statisticians and the Regional Census Coordinating Committee held in Barbados.
This Consortium will be a clearing-house for CARICOM Member States, Associate Members and international agencies and will assist with coordinating resources to support the conduct of the 2010 Population and Housing Censuses.
In Opening Remarks at the Meeting, CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite said Member States would see their resources complemented by the Consortium in the planning, and implementation of the 2010 Censuses; analyses of the data, and dissemination of information.
The Consortium would also conduct advocacy activities for maintaining and strengthening political commitment within CARICOM and for resource mobilisation through the sensitisation of policy makers and potential partners.
The Consortium is the product of a Cooperation Agreement between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) and “represents a major effort by the UNFPA and CARICOM to advance South-South Cooperation in the context of the joint CARICOM-UNFPA South-South Initiative which was launched in 2006.”
She thanked the UNFPA for its initiative in spearheading the Consortium, noting that “the generosity of the UNFPA is highly appreciated, as it demonstrates once again the interest of the United Nations system in working with the Caribbean to address the development needs of the Region.”
“Not only will UNFPA jointly coordinate the Resources Consortium with CARICOM Secretariat, it has also joined the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in providing funds directly for the implementation of the CARICOM Regional Strategy.
The CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General said further that the CARICOM Secretariat had started the implementation of its Regional Strategy to “promote the use of uniform concepts and definitions, a common core of questions on the census questionnaires, technical co-operation, and sharing expertise and facilities.”
