Preparations heighten for 2020 Round of Census

The Thirtieth Meeting of the Regional Census Coordinating Committee (RCCC) was held in Trinidad and Tobago from 29-30 July.

The Meeting was held as preparations heighten for the start of the 2020 Round of Housing and Population Census. CARICOM has traditionally adopted a regionally coordinated approach to Census activities. This has led to benefits including greater harmonisation of the census results; knowledge-sharing; adoption of best practices; functional and technical cooperation; cost-savings through the availability of regional public goods; and regional training.

The Census is part of an integrated programme of the CARICOM Regional Statistics Work Programme and from the 2010 Census Round, the RCCC  has met on a continuous basis in acknowledgement of the importance of the Census to the body of statistics being produced in the National Statistical Systems.

Statistical agencies across @CARICOMorg are planning for 2020 Censuses and more. T&T’s9 Central Statistical Office hosts the 30th Meeting of the Regional Census Coordinating Committee, July 29-30. pic.twitter.com/0pfezYzymA

— Min of Planning T&T (@PlanningTT) July 29, 2019

In brief remarks at the opening of the Meeting on Monday, Project Director, Regional Statistics, Dr. Philomen Harrison, pointed to the importance of the Census to economic and social development, and the necessity for the exercise to be effectively resourced, managed and the results dissemination in a timely manner.

“The Census provides data central to the economic, social and environmental planning of countries.  Apart from answering the questions ‘How many are we?’, the Census also provides rich and valuable information to  guide the development of a country, and specifically the people of a country on issues that relate to: Children, Youth, Economic Activity, Education,  the Health Status, Gender, Persons with Disability, Indigenous populations, Migration, the Elderly, Geographic information for disaster mitigation,  the housing stock, agricultural holdings  and related facilities and infrastructure,” she said.

The Census is supported by a number of development partners including the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), UNECLAC and PARIS21.

Source: CARICOM TODAY