AVAILABILITY, accuracy and the timeliness of information for decision-making across public agencies will be further strengthened as the Bureau of Statistics has launched the National Strategy for Development of Statistics (NSDS).

The launch is a product of collaboration between the bureau, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the OECD-Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21) and follows a four-day NSDS strategic-planning workshop held from April 17 to 20, 2018. That workshop was attended by representatives of the public and private sectors, a Ministry of Finance release said.

The launch wraps up a series of institutional assessment activities that are aimed at enhancing the availability of current statistics and information in general, across Guyana.
Minister of Finance Winston Jordan delivered the main address and emphasised the importance of ‘an efficient and effective National Statistical System.’ He also thanked the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for their contribution towards realisation of the strategy.

Minister Jordan also said that the project, which will end in March 2019, will set out the government’s vision for a National Statistics System and specify the mission of the system as a whole. It will also identify short, medium and long-term goals, set out strategies that will need to be adopted and executed, and spell out actions that will need to be taken.

He pointed out that the objectives of the project play a tremendously important role in Guyana’s plans for development in the medium to long-term and reiterated its importance as it “ensures that Guyana’s National Strategy for the Development of Statistics is not only comparable with the rest of the world, but is of a very high standard and fulfils all scientific statistical standards in the creation of this medium-term strategic plan.”

Guyana is the fifth CARICOM member country to develop this strategy and as a member of the United Nations, has signed onto and committed to 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The indicators that are used to track these goals require information that is supplied by public sector organisations. Therefore, all public sector heads have a responsibility in ensuring the various organisations are committed to the successful implementation of this national strategic plan. The institutional assessment activities are part of a three-year project funded by a US$442,092 grant from the IDB.

A vision statement, mission statement, core values and strategic objectives were developed as part of the creation of the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics. It is expected that a strategic plan will be submitted by December 2018 for approval.