Statisticians from governments and development partners throughout the Pacific will meet in Lautoka, Fiji, next week to discuss major statistical projects that will inform government policy and decision making, supporting sustainable development in the region.

The meeting will focus on implementing the next steps of the remaining five years of the Ten Year Pacific Statistics Strategy 2010-2020 (TYPSS), aimed at strengthening statistical capacity throughout the Pacific region.

Simil Johnson, Chair of TYPSS, said discussions would be around national and regional statistics projects and other major events on the Pacific statistics calendar.

He added that projects and events included “population censuses, demographic health surveys, household income and expenditure surveys and national statistics development strategies.”

Participants from Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga and Vanuatu as well as the Pacific Community (SPC) and representatives from National Statistics Offices in the Republic of Kiribati and Solomon Islands will attend the week-long meeting.

Senior representatives of partner organisations such as Australia’s Bureau of Statistics and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Pacific Islands Financial Technical Assistance Centre, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the Pacific Community, Statistics New Zealand, United Nations Population Fund, University of the South Pacific, and World Bank, will also attend.

Tonga's Acting Government Statistician, Ms Masiva'ilo Masila, will be leaving for Fiji today, May 28 to join other participants.