A major meeting of the 16 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Caribbean began this week, here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, to assess development progress and agree on priorities for next year’s United Nations conference on SIDS in Antigua and Barbuda.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Keisal Peters during the opening session of the meeting emphasized the importance of data collection, saying that readily accessible date proves invaluable in making significant strides.
“Another challenge we face and one where we can look inwardly in charting our way forward is that of data collection and data sharing in assessing our progress towards our sustainable development goals. Data collection is an area we must improve upon, as readily accessible data proves invaluable in making significant strides. If we are to accurately measure our progress, improve on implementation and monitoring and evaluation, we must have the relevant data, and even better, data owned and driven by SIDS,” Minister Peters said.
Minister Peters during her address applauded the Government of Antigua and Barbuda for leading the charge towards the establishment of a centre for excellence which promises to be a great aid to SIDS where relevant data can be accessed and used to enhance actions and initiatives taken by SIDS.
