Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley is calling for greater attention to be paid to the systematic collection of data, to ensure accurate measurements are captured on important milestones.
While pointing out that she was not blaming any government, Ms. Mottley told those attending a Sustainable Development Goals Stakeholders’ Consultation at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre recently that “if we do not…collect the right data, then we will not be able to close the gaps in ways that are important”.
She stressed that it was unfortunate that the only measurement not accurately captured was that of removing inequity. Ms. Mottley reasoned that although there had been much discussion on enfranchisement, the appropriate measurements which determined how citizens moved from poverty, all the way up the class structure, had not been put in place.
Despite the shortcomings, the Prime Minister told the gathering that there were some government ministries and sectors that were “way ahead of the others”.
She commended the work of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and Barbados in general, for not only leading the region in public health, but for putting systems in place to collect accurate data.
“…When we look at the highest mortality rate for breast cancer in the world, we record it, not because we probably have the highest, but because we do better at recording data than most, and similarly with prostate cancer. But that data now has to be used for a singular purpose to resolve issues. Good policy comes with the best available data,” she underlined.
Ms. Mottley emphasised that it was time to do away with the traditional approaches of addressing issues like education, water and other social issues. She added: “These things are part and parcel of what the maintenance and pursuit of the SDGs should look like”.
She opined that as the world enters the third decade of the 21st century, the battles of the climate crisis, be they droughts, floods or hurricanes, “are going to consume us”. She expressed the view that as new battles emerged, renewed energy would be required to tackle them and come up with solutions.
Underscoring the importance of the 5Ps – people, planet, peace, prosperity and partnerships, Ms. Mottley stressed these were the essence of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Prime Minister proffered: “All 17 goals are broken down into one of those five Ps…. We have lost the art of collecting the data with the systematic discipline that literally obtained in an earlier Barbados, and encouraging environments.”
Meanwhile, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean States, Didier Trebucq, praised the country for its outstanding work, so far, in attaining an overall SDG alignment of 90 per cent in the Rapid Integrated Assessment.
Mr. Trebucq added that Barbados is on target with most goals, having met 43 out of the 95 targets to be met by 2030, in the National SDG Mapping.