ECLAC and partners introduce a statistical resource hub for data-driven policy making in the Caribbean

The Project for the Regional Advancement of Statistics in the Caribbean (PRASC) Knowledge Base is a collaborative effort bringing together ECLAC, the ECLAC Hernán Santa Cruz Library, and Statistics Canada to provide access to materials developed under PRASC. As a statistical capacity-building project, PRASC provided support to the National Statistical Offices of 14 Caribbean Community countries and other regional statistics organizations.  

The PRASC project focuses on four key priorities. Firstly, it aims to enhance the Systems of National Accounts, ensuring accurate and comprehensive data collection. Secondly, it seeks to improve business statistics by establishing a robust business survey infrastructure. Thirdly, PRASC aims to enhance household statistics, including sex-disaggregated socio-economic indicators, by establishing a robust survey infrastructure for household surveys. Finally, the projects seek to improve the sharing of statistical information and expertise at both national and regional levels.  

As a result of PRASC, the National Statistical Offices (NSO), National Statistical Systems and the Regional Statistical System of the Caribbean region directly benefited from the project. However, the project also benefits a wide range of stakeholders. Policy and lawmakers, academics, private and public institutions as well as individual data users of all genders and age groups in the Caribbean region, can benefit from the improved data and statistical information provided by PRASC. 

The PRASC Knowledge Base: A Resource for Capacity Development 

To promote the sustainability of capacity developed under PRASC, a selection of relevant project materials has been made available for reference in the PRASC Knowledge Base. ECLAC provides the technical infrastructure, hosting the PRASC resources in the user-friendly PRASC Knowledge Base. Here, users can find training materials, tools, templates, how-to guides, and other reference documents. While initially designed for Caribbean NSO staff, the PRASC Knowledge Base also contains valuable information for data producers and users. also contains valuable information for data producers and users. 

ECLAC recognizes Statistics Canada and the Caribbean Development Bank for their collaboration in supporting the development of the PRASC Knowledge Base. The PRASC project officially began in March 2015 and concluded its major activities in September 2023.