The Ministry of Social Transformation, Local Government and Community Empowerment, in collaboration with the Department of Statistics, is facilitating a training programme for Field Data Collection for the Saint Lucia Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS).

The MICS will be the first one of its kind to be conducted in the Eastern Caribbean region. Deputy Director of the Research and Development Unit Augustus Cadette asserts that government is making the journey from speculative social and human development to a more scientific approach.

There has been extensive discussion among social partners, Cadette said, to adapt MICS modules to be more relevant to national use without compromising the usefulness for purposes of international comparability.

Cadette highlighted the objectives of the two week training programme. He said the training is “aimed at facilitating the conduct of the survey, but perhaps even more important is that it will build Saint Lucia's capacity even further to conduct future MICS exercises as we move to institutionalise the MICS. This is not a one time activity- MICS is here to stay. It is something that we intend to implement periodically so that we can monitor the situation with respect to children and women in Saint Lucia.”

The MICS, Cadette emphasized, is a tool for the advancement of human development that needs continuity in its application for gathering data that can be analyzed over time, across territories.

One of the fundamental outcomes of the survey, Cadette said, is the use of its findings to improve the efficacy of development programmes and policies in response to known vulnerabilities to poverty risk factors.