Statistical Offices in OECS Member States now have a project to assist with generating high quality, timely, reliable data on social and human development issues.

The OECS Secretariat launched the MECOVI Project in St. Lucia on Friday, August 6 at a meeting attended by Heads of OECS Statistical Offices and representatives of several stakeholder organizations including UNDP, UNECLAC and the CDB. MECOVI is the Spanish acronym for ‘Programme for Improvement of Surveys and Measurement of Living Conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The World Bank financed MECOVI-OECS project is expected to address the sub-region’s lack of institutional capacity and resources. Head of the Secretariat’s Social Policy Unit Ms. Rosalyn Hazelle told Friday’s launch that the two year project will strengthen the capacity of Member States in survey capabilities, poverty analysis and social indicators. She said Member States would get support for activities which promote the wide use of their population census.

Staff at Statistical Offices and their counterparts in Planning, Finance and Social Ministries will be trained to conduct poverty measurements and social policy analysis to complement poverty reduction strategies. The project will also include seminars on gathering baseline indicators to monitor the progress of poverty reduction strategies and the implementation of social policy planning.