Grenada is to launch a database system which harnesses the power of advanced information technology to compile and disseminate data related to human development, as reflected by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and other priority areas.
The Caricom Secretariat in collaboration with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will launch the Implementation of Dev Info and Strengthening Capacity Project, on Thursday 6 March 2014.
Called DEV INFO it is a tool for organizing, storing, and presenting data in a uniform way to facilitate data sharing at the country level across government departments as well as Regional and International Agencies.
Halim Brizan, Director of the Statistic Department, said that the project’s immediate benefit is to gather data relating directly to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals project which Grenada and other countries around the world will have to submit in 2015.
The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) include halving extreme poverty rates, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, and providing universal primary education, all by the target year of 2015. It was signed and agreed to by all the world’s countries and the world’s leading development institutions in 2000.
A statement from the Ministry of Finance said that this project will provide technical assistance and build capacity to the Central Statistical Office and Line Ministries in Grenada and other participating member states.
“The overall objective of the project is to enhance the capacity of participating countries and the OECS Secretariat to monitor progress and report on the Caribbean specific Millennium Development Goals and other key thematic and cross-thematic development indicators,” the statement further explained.
The enhanced capacity can enable fulfilment of reporting commitments to the Caricom Secretariat the CDB, UNICEF and other agencies and can also encourage more evidence-based decision-making by officials and other data users in Grenada. The project targets all line ministries and departments that produce information that are used for the monitoring of the Millennium Development Goals and the Caribbean Specific Targets and Indicators.
