The problems of this country are no longer confined to finding jobs for unemployed youth. The real problems lie in the lack of accurate and reliable statistics to help planners lay down short-term, medium and long-term programs to be able to address people’s needs.
It’s difficult to have integrated programs based on comprehensive and detailed studies focusing on the actual needs of the population and capable of overcoming the problems and obstacles we now face without a solid statistical base from which to work.
In my view, until we have an independent body that seeks to address population problems, we will continue to rely on half-baked plans that actually impede progress rather than advance it. Having a specialized body catering solely to population problems and the concerns of the people of our country would bolster good planning. This in turn could help solve many of our problems, including poverty, unemployment and the shortcomings of an educational system apparently unable to produce individuals capable of meeting the job market requirements.
The creation of such a body would also help foster the proper management of resources, focusing on priorities that may be different from those previously identified but that in reality may prove to be more responsive to the actual needs of the citizens.
We have been unable to arrive at solutions for many of our chronic problems because we continue to lack a reliable database. In all previous attempts to address our problems we did not tackle the actual needs of the population by focusing on the detail. Perhaps it’s time that we start.
