Montserratian Appointed to Lead OECS Group

A Montserratian has been appointed Co-chair of the OECS Statistical Communication and Advocacy Group.

Siobhan Tuitt will work closely alongside St Vincent’s Shervone Alexander -the chairperson- to fulfil the group’s aim of providing training in media relations and advocacy towards improved communications.

The Group, launched during the week of December 3 to 7 last year at the headquarters of Statistics Canada in Ottawa, comprises one person from each OECS National Statistical Office (NSO).

The group will serve as a technical working team to implement statistical communication and advocacy activities based on best practices and recommendations in the OECS Statistical Communication and Advocacy Strategy.

The first Statistical Communications and Advocacy Workshop was also held in Ottawa, to coincide with the launch.

The workshop took the format of presentations made by staff of Statistics Canada in their respective areas of specialty including communications planning, media relations, the use of social media, best practices for online data dissemination as well as data visualization. In-class sessions also consisted of hands-on exercises for the participants.

Main outcomes of the training were to increase capacity to support statistical communication and advocacy at the national and regional levels; and to develop templates for communication and advocacy planning, products and monitoring.    

The workshop was funded by PRASC, a government-funded component of Statistics Canada’s work programme that provides statistical support to the Caribbean Community in several areas, including statistical advocacy and communication.

The workshop was attended by five OECS NSOs; two officers from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), who served as co-trainers for the sessions; and two officers from the OECS Commission’s Statistical Services Unit.

The Commission expresses its gratitude to the PRASC team and Statistics Canada for its continued support to the region in the area of statistical advocacy and communication.