A resources consortium in support of the 2010 population and housing censuses in the Caribbean Community was launched on Monday 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. It 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,NFL Jerseys Wholesale From China, Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite, said Member States would see their resources complemented by the consortium in the planning and implementation of the 2010 censuses; analysis 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.Also at the forum, Ambassador Applewhaite underscored the importance of statistics to regional integration, opining that despite the general lack of appreciation for statistics as a strategic resource for decision-making, good governance, planning, accountability and management, it is still a vital tool for development, the business of government,Cheap NFL Jerseys, and to keep individual citizens informed about what government is doing.She noted that statistical data analyses undertaken under the Caribbean Integration Support Programme (CISP) would guide implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME),Cheap China Jerseys, assist in evaluating its operation and performance, and ultimately impact the lives of Caribbean peoples.Acknowledging that global challenges were fuelling the demand for new data and shorter timeframes, especially in the Caribbean, and the challenge faced by the Caribbean in recruiting and retaining statisticians,NFL Jerseys Discount, Ambassador Applewhaite advocated strategies that could result in the strengthening of the capacity of existing staff and facilitate greater cooperation among the national statistical offices through attachments and exchange visits.She pointed to ongoing initiatives for capacity building in statistics in the region. These include an annual course in Demographic Analysis, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), offered through the University of the West Indies.? This programme has trained more than sixty persons in the region within the past three years.In addition, Ambassador Applewhaite pointed to the first Regional Statistical Research Seminar,Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys, scheduled for this month, as a capacity-building mechanism, introduced to enable statistical development through cooperation across the region, in the conduct of research involving examination of statistical methodologies, increased analysis of the data produced, and the dissemination of the research findings.