Monitor of Well-being and SDGs Caribbean Netherlands
The Monitor of Well-being and the Sustainable Development Goals in the Caribbean Netherlands examines well-being in the Caribbean Netherlands. This part of the Netherlands consists of the Caribbean islands Bonaire, Saba and St Eustatius. Where possible, the Monitor describes well-being for each of the three islands separately.
Well-being refers to quality of life here and now and the extent to which this is detrimental to that of future generations and/or people elsewhere in the world. The UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) serve as a compass to help steer through the challenges underlying well-being. The monitor approaches each SDG from the perspective of well-being in the Caribbean Netherlands.
The monitor for the Caribbean Netherlands is still under development. Just as the previous edition, this third edition concentrates on the dimension well-being ‘here and now’, one of three well-being dimensions. Well-being ‘here and now’ is based on inhabitants’ personal characteristics, and the quality of the environment they live in; in more general terms, their material and subjective well-being. As the SDGs are an important framework for CBS monitoring of well-being, they feature prominently in the analysis of well-being in the Caribbean Netherlands. This edition of the monitor comprises indicators for nine of the 17 SDGs. The first edition included indicators for seven SDGs.
This dashboard presents information on the following nine SDGs.- SDG 1: No poverty
- SDG 3: Good health and well-being
- SDG 4: Quality education
- SDG 5: Gender equality
- SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy
- SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
- SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
- SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities
- SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
The monitor will be expanded in the coming year to provide a more comprehensive picture of the Caribbean Netherlands.
Medium-term trends are used to describe developments in well-being. These trends cover the eight-year period from 2016 to 2023. Alongside the medium-term trends, the dashboard also presents the ranking of the three islands in respect of each other.
Interpretation
The monitor describes the phenomenon well-being. The phenomenon is the thing we want to know more about: well-being in the Caribbean Netherlands. The themes are aspects that help shape well-being. They can be seen as the 'components' of well-being. These components may improve, deteriorate, or remain the same. To measure this, we use indicators. Indicators are the instruments that illustrate the phenomenon well-being. They are what we can measure. Each indicator is representative of a well-being theme, but measures a different aspect of that theme. Therefore, where possible, multiple indicators are used to describe each theme. Together these indicators present a picture of well-being ‘here and now’, ´later’ and ‘elsewhere’ and the underlying themes. A complex phenomenon like well-being requires a carefully compiled and balanced set of indicators, that describes all relevant aspects adequately and that is free of political and personal bias.
Using the monitor
Well-being includes everything that makes life worthwhile. In principle, well-being is not normative. All themes underlying well-being 'here and now', 'later' and 'elsewhere’ are equally important. This means it is essential that monitoring finds the right balance. Statistics Netherlands measures all themes underlying well-being, preferably using multiple indicators for each theme. It uses colours to illustrate changes and trends. Not all indicators need to show growth. The strength of well-being is that it allows a balanced assessment of the state and the development of society. An assessment is always normative: it is based on core values and related interests. Every citizen, every company, every government, every politician bases their decisions on their own considerations. And these considerations always include trade-offs. It is simply not possible to please all of the people all of the time, to serve all interests equally well: there are always constraints in terms of time, money and space. Also, every choice 'here and now' results in a trade-off 'later' and/or 'elsewhere'. The monitor sets out the outcome of all these choices and considerations. It is up to users to judge the results based on their own values and interests. Statistics Netherlands’ job is to use available information to give an integrated picture of well-being. The monitor can serve to monitor policy targets; users should note that these targets are set by policymakers, not by Statistics Netherlands.