(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)     The Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) affirms that Professor Brendan Bain’s testimony in the Orozco v. A.G. Belize (2012) case is not consistent with the stated goals of PANCAP to reduce stigma and eliminate discrimination. In fact, it is in dissonance with PANCAP’s ongoing work to remove discriminatory laws and affirm human rights.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Citizens of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) need appropriate statistics to hold their “governments and all serious stakeholders, accountable”, the Prime Minister of Grenada said Monday.

Delivering the keynote address at the opening of the one-day Second High Level Advocacy Forum on Statistics in Grenada, Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell stressed that statistics was not only important for policy-makers.

I bring you greetings from the management and staff of the Caribbean Development Bank and convey the President’s best wishes for a very successful Forum and associated side meetings.

I am delighted to warmly welcome everyone to the Isle of Spice and especially to this important Forum.

This High Level Forum, made possible by your presence today, signifies the importance of the role of statistics and its further development for the advancement of our people.
As a person trained in this field myself, I do feel a heightened sense of responsibility to ensure that we raise the bar of this important variable in the advancement of our region. 

It is indeed an honour and privilege for me to chair this morning’s opening ceremony and to offer very brief welcoming remarks at this very important highlevel forum on statistics.