The project, entitled “Modernising Trinidad and Tobago’s Statistical Ecosystem Through Enhanced SDG Data Development,” is being financed by a US $721,400 grant from the Joint SDG Fund of the United Nations. The initiative was officially launched during an event at the Hyatt Regency on Tuesday, July 26, 2022.    ”I would like to emphasise that the process of Modernising Trinidad and Tobago’s Statistical Ecosystem through Enhanced SDG Data Development is not just for this period in time or for our current generations, but for future generations,” said Minister of Planning and Development, the Honourable Pennelope Beckles. ”Once we get it right, we will leave a legacy that heralds future prosperity, as well as provides a foundation that can be built upon for the next millennium of national, regional and global goals. What gets measured, gets done and through this project we will meet the objectives of our national development drive which we have integrated with the global Sustainable Development Goals.” Over the 24-month duration of the project, five United Nations agencies (PAHO/WHO, ILO, UNEP, ECLAC and the RCO) will collaborate with the Government, private sector companies, academia and civil society to support the evolution of the country’s National Statistical System so it can produce and share data for analyses, reporting, gender and human rights mainstreaming in national policy and coordination.    This data is expected to positively impact national decision-making, programming and reporting on the 17 SDGs, which Trinidad and Tobago has committed to achieving by the year 2030. The SDGs are the blueprint for fair and just development which all UN Member States have agreed to pursue.    The project will see the integration of international standards on human rights and gender equality into the way statistics are collected; the fostering of data partnerships across government and the private sector for better collaboration on data collection and sharing; advocacy for the strengthening of legislation governing statistics collection; and improvement in the quantity, quality and pace of data that can be easily disaggregated.   The United Nations Resident Coordinator (a.i.), Dennis Zulu, said, ”The UN is committed to supporting the Government’s efforts at harnessing the power of data and statistics to accelerate and improve the country’s sustainable development. Data availability and quality have improved over the years. But statistical capacity and legislation still need strengthening, and data literacy must be enhanced at all levels of decision-making, including among the general public. This will require coordinated efforts on the part of data producers and users from multiple sectors, including the private sector and international development agencies like the UN.”   Investing in the technological capacity of the Central Statistical Office (CSO) is central to achieving these objectives, so much so that this is already the first major deliverable of the project. During the launch ceremony, the International Labour Organization (ILO) handed over 85 devices (75 tablets and 10 laptops) to the CSO. The devices, valued at US $42,608, will be used to provide updated, digitalised and field-tested data instruments in at least two national surveys.  Acting Director of Statistics at the CSO, Andre Blanchard, received the equipment from Mr. Zulu, who is also the Director for the ILO Office for the Caribbean.    “The Central Statistical Office is extremely grateful to the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation for the donation of digital equipment,” Mr. Blanchard said. “This donation will greatly facilitate the modernization of the data collection and processing activities of the Central Statistical Office by providing the physical resources necessary for the implementation of the Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) methodology in the conduct of surveys. The CAPI approach to data collection will enable data to be processed more efficiently.”   The Joint SDG Fund is an inter-agency fund of the United Nations that finances innovative projects to get the world back on track to achieve the SDGs. Ten of the global donor countries for the fund have ambassadors or consuls in Trinidad and Tobago.   Speaking on behalf of the donor countries, Ambassador of the Kingdom of The Netherlands to Trinidad and Tobago, His Excellency Raphaël Varga van Kibéd, said, “With this project, the National Statistical System in T&T will be able to deliver quality, user-oriented and timely statistics on the economy, social needs and the environment. This is critical to making effective evidence-based decisions and to monitoring achievement of programme and policy objectives. The Kingdom of The Netherlands is proud to be part of these important developments.”   The project began in January 2022 and is set for completion by December 2023.
For additional information, please contact the Trinidad and Tobago Country Office of PAHO/WHO at emailtto@paho.org.

Hit hard by the pandemic, Trinidad and Tobago is incorporating a strong focus on disaster risk reduction (DRR) into its recovery to better insulate it from complex shocks that risk derailing its sustainable development targets. Using the structures incorporated in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030), the Caribbean country is taking a comprehensive overview of hazards, risks and uncertainties to inform its decision-making and planning. "Trinidad and Tobago is a regional example for DRR,” said Raul Salazar, head of UNDRR - Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean.  “Not only is there a strong commitment to early warning systems for multiple hazards, but comprehensive DRR policies have been implemented in all sectors of the country with the Sendai Framework as a guide." The twin-island nation suffered a high number of COVID-19 cases during the pandemic that devastated its tourism industry, sparked heavy job losses and took a substantial economic toll. While Trinidad and Tobago often avoids the hurricanes that frequently cause chaos across the Caribbean, it is vulnerable to other hazards including earthquakes and floods. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates that Caribbean countries incurred an estimated $27 billion in losses and damages from natural hazards between 2000 and 2017. It calculates that disasters cost as much as 5.7 percent of GDP each year. Trinidad and Tobago is currently drafting a Country Work Programme (CWP) that aims to “substantially increase the number of countries  with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies,” a milestone that contributes directly to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Additionally, it is pushing risk-informed sustainable development through the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative that aims to improve local resilience through effective policies.  MCR2030 is working with the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) and the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) to develop a local strategy for DRR and resilience.  Thanks to MCR2030’s technical assistance, Trinidad and Tobago will begin using UNDRR’s Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities and be the first country in the world to pilot the Scorecard’s Disaster Displacements Addendum, which aims to assist local governments in assessing the extent to which their policies and practices effectively prevent and address disaster displacement, and informs the local resilience action plan. DRR investment is also increasing through the Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies (ARISE), a network committed to supporting and implementing the Sendai Framework, through the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (AMCHAM T&T), engaging the private sector to create more risk-resilient enterprises so that business can become resilient, recover faster from disasters and help reducing risks. Additionally, cooperation is rising among the various government departments that play a role in DRR. The country will soon join the Caribbean Safe School Initiative, part of the Worldwide-Initiative on Safe Schools (WISS) which promotes the partnership for advancing safe school implementation.  "Trinidad and Tobago understands the importance of DRR to ensure sustainable development in line with the SDGs, because nothing affects development more than disasters,” said UNDRR’s Salazar. The UN Resident Coordinator a.i. for Trinidad and Tobago, Dennis Zulu, said UNDRR’s support for the country’s DRR initiatives is yet another example of the vibrant partnership between the United Nations and Trinidad and Tobago. “The recovery from Covid-19 is still in a critical stage, and the United Nations is working with our partners in Trinidad and Tobago to ensure all areas of vulnerability –  whether it be social, economic or environmental, are assessed and addressed. As a Small Island Developing State, disasters and hazards can have disproportionately high impacts on countries like Trinidad and Tobago, so the UN is committed to supporting prevention and mitigation responses to give T&T the best chance possible to overcome sudden shocks to the system." Trinidad and Tobago is benefiting from the CREWS initiative (Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems) that increases life-saving preparedness and anticipatory action based on impact-based forecasting.  In this sense, CREWS backed the development of the Caribbean Regional Workshop ‘Measuring Effectiveness of Early Warning Systems through Sendai Framework Target (g) and Custom Indicator’, which will help countries understand why they need a multi-hazard approach and how to improve how they assess and monitor the effectiveness of their EWS. “Ensuring risk-informed decisions requires countries to continuously improve and update their understanding of complex threats, so that authorities, individuals and businesses can take appropriate anticipatory action,” said Salazar. This year, the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction will focus on Target G of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030) : “Substantially increase the availability of and access to multi‑hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessments to the people by 2030”.   In his message to mark World Meteorological Day in March, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on countries to "recognize the value of early warnings and early action as critical tools to reduce disaster risk and support climate adaptation".  In addition, better addressing how to assess and monitor regional hazards, from hurricanes to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, brings Caribbean countries in line with Target G. By taking a comprehensive approach and integrating DRR into planning and investment decisions, the country has directly contributed to the strengthening of and progress towards achieving the SDGs.      

Dr. Anna Paolini has joined the UNESCO Office in Jamaica as its new director, effective July 2022.
This follows the departure of former director, Dr. Saadia Beatriz Sanchez Vegas, who retired in June.   Dr. Paolini brings a wealth of experience to her new position. She was UNESCO Representative in the Arab States of the Gulf and Yemen and Director UNESCO Doha Office for the Countries of the Gulf and Yemen from September 2013 to June 2022. She was also UNESCO Representative and Head of Office in Uzbekistan from 2007 to 2009 and later she covered the same position in Jordan. In 1992, she joined UNESCO as specialist in the field of culture at the Regional Office in Amman. In 1997, she moved to UNESCO HQ covering several positions within the Culture Sector including being responsible for movable heritage activities and on heritage in conflict response in the Arab region.   Prior to that, she held a research associate role at the Institute of Architecture of Venice, worked in restoration in Italy and carried out research in the field of urban rehabilitation in several Arab and African countries. She holds a Master’s degree in Architecture and a Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning for Developing Countries, a post-graduate degree on Development Cooperation, as well as a Ph.D in Urban and Territorial Engineering. Dr. Paolini is a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the Italian Association of Professional Architects and author of several papers on different cultural heritage subjects.  

April 27, 2022 - An estimated 2.8 million people or nearly 40 percent of the population in the English-speaking Caribbean is food insecure, 1 million more than in April 2020, according to the results of a recent survey conducted by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Severe food insecurity continues to increase in the region with the current figure 72 percent higher when compared to April 2020. Highlighting the lasting impact of the pandemic, two years in, the results demonstrate deteriorating food consumption and diets with 25 percent of respondents eating less preferred foods, 30 percent skipping meals or eating less than usual and 5 percent going an entire day without eating in the week leading up to the survey.
  “Having the opportunity to assess how the pandemic has impacted the livelihoods and food security of more than 20,000 respondents across the past two years has provided the CARICOM Secretariat with invaluable data that is being used to inform regional priorities in the short and medium term,” said Shaun Baugh, Agriculture and Agro-Industrial Development Programme Manager at the CARICOM Secretariat. High food prices continue to affect people’s ability to afford a nutritious diet with 93 percent of respondents reporting higher prices for food compared to 59 percent in April 2020. The ongoing crisis in Ukraine is expected to create an even deeper impact on the cost of basic goods and services in the Caribbean. “An import dependent region, the Caribbean continues to feel the socio-economic strain of COVID-19 which is now being compounded by the conflict in Ukraine. With most COVID-19 assistance programmes having concluded, many families are expected to face an even greater challenge to meet their basic food and other essential needs in the months to come,” said Regis Chapman, WFP Representative and Country Director for the Caribbean Multi-Country Office. “In the short to medium term, it is increasing pressure on governments to identify solutions to ensure families can meet their essential needs. Innovation in agri-food systems and regional supply chains, coupled with continued support to the most vulnerable households, will be essential to improving the resilience of regional food systems so that prices can be kept as stable as possible.”  Along with the latest survey results, an interactive dashboard allows for comparison between different survey rounds and across several countries. It also provides data on the impact of the pandemic on livelihoods, access to markets and food security by country in the Caribbean.  CARICOM, WFP and other partners continue to work together to increase resilience to shocks through stronger disaster management, social protection and food systems that are more effective, sustainable and responsive in meeting the needs of those most affected by crises.  The survey was supported by the European Union and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance.                                                                                                            ******** The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is a grouping of 20 countries: 15 Member States and five Associate Members, with the aims of promoting economic integration and cooperation in foreign policy, human and social development and security.  Caribbean economic integration, and cooperation amongst its members, including in foreign policy. For more information please contact: Carla Alleyne, WFP/ Caribbean 1 (246) 467-6085, 1 (246) 836-6111, Carla.alleyne@wfp.org Juliette Maughan, WFP/ Caribbean 1 (246) 467-6084,  Juliette.maughan@wfp.org    Shaun Baugh, CARICOM Secretariat (592) 22-0001 Ext 2244,  Shaun.baugh@caricom.org