SAVINGRAM

THIRTY-SECOND MEETING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OFCARIBBEAN STATISTICIANS (SCCS), 5-7 NOVEMBER 2007ANDFIFTEENTH MEETING OF THE REGIONAL CENSUS COORDINATINGCOMMITTEE (RCCC), 8-9 NOVEMBER 2007PARAMARIBO, SURINAME(CONVENING)1. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat wishes to advise Member Statesthat it proposes to convene the Thirty-Second Meeting of the Standing Committee ofCaribbean Statisticians (SCCS) on 5-7 November 2007. The SCCS Meeting will befollowed by the Fifteenth Meeting of the Regional Census Coordinating Committee(RCCC) Meeting on 8-9 November 2007. The venue for these Meetings is theKrasnapolsky Hotel, Paramaribo, Suriname.2. The theme suggested for the Thirty-Second Meeting of the SCCS is”Enabling theDevelopment of the CSME through Evidence-based Policy – The Case forIncreasing Investment in Statistics”. The fundamental approach to enabling theproduction of timely, relevant, harmonised and high-quality statistics in the Regionrests on two pillars – the Regional Statistical Work Programme (RSWP) and theResolution calling on Member Governments to invest in Statistics as a priority in theRegion, which are the mechanisms through which harmonised up-to-date empiricaldata on the establishment and monitoring of the CSME would be produced. TheRSWP and the Resolution were endorsed and passed respectively by theCommunity Council of Ministers in January 2005 in recognition of the need tomonitor improvement in the living standards of the people of the Region.3. The Provisional Agenda for both Meetings are set out at Attachments I and II,respectively, to this Savingram. The Secretariat would be grateful to receive by 28September 2007, any additional item(s) which Member States may wish to haveincluded on the Agenda of the above-captioned Meetings. This information shouldbe accompanied by an explanatory memorandum on the proposed item(s). MemberStates are also requested to inform the Secretariat of Papers related to the Items onthe proposed agenda that they wish to present at these Meetings.4. Member States are asked to focus their interventions under the main areas ofStatistics of the RSWP, providing information on data production and disseminationefforts, data gaps, best practices/challenges, resource requirements – human andfinancial, the need for technical assistance and training and the use of technology.In addition, Member States will be requested to report on any achievements orinitiatives already in progress, or proposed, to restructure their respective NationalStatistical Offices/Systems. In recognition of the need to have a common format forthe presentation of reports by countries, the Secretariat has designed a sampleformat which is set out at Attachment III.5. Specific focus on the SCCS will be on the measurement issues of the United NationsMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) and on the localisation of these indicatorsas key mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating development at the national andregional levels./…2