A National Statistical System for Aruba

The Netherlands contributes to the development of high-quality statistics in Aruba

The Hague / Oranjestad – The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations provides support to Aruba through subsidies and knowledge exchange a mutual arrangement has been concluded for the benefit of the so-called country package between Aruba and the Netherlands in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Netherlands is providing more than 820,000 dollars in support for setting up a National Statistical System for Aruba (NSS). The NSS has four strategic objectives (1) strengthening of statistics legislation, (2) strengthening of partnerships for the production of statistics, (3) harmonization and standardization of data systems and (4) training personnel responsible for the production of statistics.

The set-up of the NSS is led by the Minister of Economic Affairs Affairs, Communications and Sustainable Development of Aruba established NSS Committee, in which the current Central Bureau of Statistics, the Boards Public Health, Education, Labour, Economic Affairs, Trade and Industry, Nature and Environment, the SDG Commission, the Civil Registry Office and Population Registry and the Central Bank of Aruba participate.

Once set up, the NSS will be coordinated by the Central Bureau for the Statistics of Aruba and will cooperate with bodies that will provide official statistics production will become part of the NSS. This has been chosen for this purpose produce high-quality, timely and relevant statistics for formation, monitoring and review of policy. Statistics are of high quality necessary for monitoring, among other things, the social, economic and environmental related developments in a country. The public availability and accessibility of statistics also support transparency and accountability in the process of policy development.

Legislative review

The design of the NSS goes hand in hand with the drafting of new legislation and the amend existing legislation. This is important for the success of the NSS, defining the roles and responsibilities of all participants. In addition, the law pays attention to how data exchange between the participants takes place and how individual data of persons and entities are protected to gain the trust of suppliers and users. The legal framework must also contribute to the recognisability of official statistics through the process of awarding a seal of approval to official to record statistics in clear terms.