Regional Capacity Building Workshops on Analysis and Dissemination of National Population and Housing Census Data

The Regional Workshop on the Use of REDATAM for the Online Dissemination of Census Data was hosted by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) in Kingston from 4 to 15 April 2016. REDATAM (REtrieval of DATa for small Areas by Microcomputer) is a software programme developed and supported by ECLAC which has been used by many countries for providing controlled online access to national census and survey microdata. ECLAC facilitated training in the software for statisticians from Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the Cayman Islands.

This was followed by a workshop which took place in Montego Bay from 18 to 29 April 2016 in which experts from USCB facilitated the training of representatives from seventeen Caribbean countries in demographic analysis and population projections. The aim of this workshop was to build the capacity of senior statisticians to use demographic methods and software for the production of statistics and analyses on fertility, mortality, migration and population projections.

Both workshops were designed to promote wider analysis and use of national census data for development planning, policy making, and monitoring international commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals.

In Caribbean countries, the decennial census exercise is coordinated by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat with support from other development partners including CDB, ECLAC and UNFPA in accordance with their respective mandates. This project was concerned primarily with promoting wider use of the data that was collected in the 2010 round of censuses. However, in re-establishing a partnership among the organizing agencies, the project should also be seen as a first contribution towards supporting the 2020 round of censuses. It is anticipated that the same partners will develop a more comprehensive programme of technical assistance to support implementation, dissemination, analysis and use of data in the 2020 round.