New UN – GORTT Project to Modernise Trinidad and Tobago’s SDG Statistics

The project, entitled “Modernising Trinidad and Tobago’s Statistical Ecosystem Through Enhanced SDG Data Development,” is being financed by a US $721,400 grant from the Joint SDG Fund of the United Nations.

The initiative was officially launched during an event at the Hyatt Regency on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. 

”I would like to emphasise that the process of Modernising Trinidad and Tobago’s Statistical Ecosystem through Enhanced SDG Data Development is not just for this period in time or for our current generations, but for future generations,” said Minister of Planning and Development, the Honourable Pennelope Beckles. ”Once we get it right, we will leave a legacy that heralds future prosperity, as well as provides a foundation that can be built upon for the next millennium of national, regional and global goals. What gets measured, gets done and through this project we will meet the objectives of our national development drive which we have integrated with the global Sustainable Development Goals.”

Caption: Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Planning and Development, the Honourable Pennelope Beckles sitting alongside foreign dignitaries, UN officials, and Trinidadian Civil Servants at the Launch of the Joint SDG Fund.

Over the 24-month duration of the project, five United Nations agencies (PAHO/WHO, ILO, UNEP, ECLAC and the RCO) will collaborate with the Government, private sector companies, academia and civil society to support the evolution of the country’s National Statistical System so it can produce and share data for analyses, reporting, gender and human rights mainstreaming in national policy and coordination. 

This data is expected to positively impact national decision-making, programming and reporting on the 17 SDGs, which Trinidad and Tobago has committed to achieving by the year 2030. The SDGs are the blueprint for fair and just development which all UN Member States have agreed to pursue. 

The project will see the integration of international standards on human rights and gender equality into the way statistics are collected; the fostering of data partnerships across government and the private sector for better collaboration on data collection and sharing; advocacy for the strengthening of legislation governing statistics collection; and improvement in the quantity, quality and pace of data that can be easily disaggregated.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator (a.i.), Dennis Zulu, said, ”The UN is committed to supporting the Government’s efforts at harnessing the power of data and statistics to accelerate and improve the country’s sustainable development. Data availability and quality have improved over the years. But statistical capacity and legislation still need strengthening, and data literacy must be enhanced at all levels of decision-making, including among the general public. This will require coordinated efforts on the part of data producers and users from multiple sectors, including the private sector and international development agencies like the UN.”

Investing in the technological capacity of the Central Statistical Office (CSO) is central to achieving these objectives, so much so that this is already the first major deliverable of the project. During the launch ceremony, the International Labour Organization (ILO) handed over 85 devices (75 tablets and 10 laptops) to the CSO. The devices, valued at US $42,608, will be used to provide updated, digitalised and field-tested data instruments in at least two national surveys. 

Caption: Dutch Ambassador, His Excellency Raphael Varga van Kibèd en Makfalva (far left) and United Nations Resident Coordinator Mr. Dennis Zulu (centre left) ceremonially hands over a device to Minister of Planning and Development, the Honourable Pennelope Beckles (centre right) and Acting Director of Statistics at the CSO, Andre Blanchard (far right).

Acting Director of Statistics at the CSO, Andre Blanchard, received the equipment from Mr. Zulu, who is also the Director for the ILO Office for the Caribbean. 

“The Central Statistical Office is extremely grateful to the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation for the donation of digital equipment,” Mr. Blanchard said. “This donation will greatly facilitate the modernization of the data collection and processing activities of the Central Statistical Office by providing the physical resources necessary for the implementation of the Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) methodology in the conduct of surveys. The CAPI approach to data collection will enable data to be processed more efficiently.”

The Joint SDG Fund is an inter-agency fund of the United Nations that finances innovative projects to get the world back on track to achieve the SDGs. Ten of the global donor countries for the fund have ambassadors or consuls in Trinidad and Tobago.

Speaking on behalf of the donor countries, Ambassador of the Kingdom of The Netherlands to Trinidad and Tobago, His Excellency Raphaël Varga van Kibéd, said, “With this project, the National Statistical System in T&T will be able to deliver quality, user-oriented and timely statistics on the economy, social needs and the environment. This is critical to making effective evidence-based decisions and to monitoring achievement of programme and policy objectives. The Kingdom of The Netherlands is proud to be part of these important developments.”

The project began in January 2022 and is set for completion by December 2023.

For additional information, please contact the Trinidad and Tobago Country Office of PAHO/WHO at emailtto@paho.org.