President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has emphasised statistics is at the heart of public policy. The president made the remarks in a statement issued commemorating the National Statistics Day.
In his remarks, President Solih highlighted the importance of statistics, noting statistics are crucial to measuring economic productivity and the success of major industries, and to disseminating pertinent and comprehensive information to the public. The president stated the Strategic Action Plan (SAP) of the government encompassing the five areas of Blue Economy, Caring State, Dignified Families, Island Lifestyle, and Good Governance, comes with specific and measurable goals, and that their successful outcome can only be measured by hard numbers. Further, he emphasised the high value the current administration places on measurable goals and policies that are data driven.
Moreover, the president noted the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has further proven the significance of statistics. He elaborated upon the importance of timely and detailed statistics, especially with regard to case numbers and infection rates, in formulating an effective health response.
The president also noted the transparency of the administration with the data, pointing to the efforts to regularly update the public on the national COVID-19 situation, and the fact that the Maldives is among the few countries to provide sex disaggregated data with regard to the pandemic’s trajectory within the country.
World Statistics Day is celebrated internationally once every five years. This year it is being celebrated under the theme of ‘connecting the world with data we can trust’, intended to underscore the importance of trustworthy and authoritative data when making important policy decisions.