SIB Provides the Numbers Behind Belize’s National Decisions

Statistics may look like numbers on a page, but they help determine how Belize plans for schools, healthcare, jobs, infrastructure and poverty reduction. The Statistical Institute of Belize sits at the center of that process. Beyond calculating GDP, inflation and poverty rates, the SIB works with agencies across government to ensure they collect information using consistent methods and national standards. It also helps strengthen their capacity and safeguards the quality of the data used to produce official statistics. According to Director General Diana Castillo, that work gives decision-makers reliable evidence to guide policies, improve governance and keep the country’s development priorities on track.

 

Diana Castillo, Director General, SIB

“The SIB’s role is dual. One, we are producers of key national statistics. I think everyone is familiar with our statistics, the gross domestic product, inflation rate, poverty. We are producers of those statistics. But as coordinators, we are also responsible for other things. We are responsible to set national standards for statistics and work with our partners to implement them. We are responsible to promote harmonization of methods across the National Statistical System, to give support to our partners in the area of capacity building, so that we ensure that capacities across the NSS are elevated, to promote quality assurance with respect to the data that goes into producing official statistics and overall coordinating the national statistical work program. What does all of this have to do with national development? We are the producers of data that supports evidence-based decision making and planning and evidence-based planning and decision making are critical to both good governance and to advancing our national development priorities. So the core mandate of our National Statistical System is to work together in coordination to produce data that is accurate, timely, relevant, reliable, to support national decision making.”

 

Are Government’s Resources Reaching the Right People?

 

Government programs should rely on facts, not guesswork. SIB Director General Diana Castillo says quality data helps policymakers pinpoint national needs, target interventions and spend public resources more efficiently.

 

Diana Castillo, Director General, SIB

“Strong data systems are directly linked to improved livelihoods and quality of life for our people. They’re linked to achieving greater efficiencies in our social programs through a number of means. So, one, by using good quality data, we can better identify the issues in or country that are in need of intervention, rather than just going by guesswork, rather than just going by anecdotes. We can go by data and actually identify where there are genuine needs that need to be addressed with our public resources. Two, we can better design and target our policies. So rather than just developing a policy and putting it out there for everyone and hoping that it sticks and lands on the right person, if we have good data, we can better design them. We can actually target them to the people and the parts of the country that are actually in need of these interventions. With data, we can be more efficient in how we allocate our resources across programs and within programs. So if we are doing better targeting, if we can identify who and where we need to direct our resources, we can be much more efficient in how we allocate our resources across public sector programs.”

 

Today is being celebrated across the region as Caribbean Statistics Day to emphasize the vital role of high-quality, harmonized statistics in regional integration, evidence-based policymaking, and sustainable development.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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