Population and Housing Census An African perspective United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and African Development Bank UN Expert Group Meeting on the Revision of the Principles and Recommendations on Population and Housing Census 29 th October to 1 st November 2013

Some background information This presentation is based on  Global Survey conducted by UNSD in  Global Survey conducted by UNSD and US Bureau of Census in  Proceedings of the Workshop on Assessment of 2010 Round of Population and Housing Census in Africa (April-May 2013)  Based on in-depth assessment in eight African countries by ECA and AfDB (August-September 2013) This presentation does not necessarily reflect the position of the African member states as the status report is yet to be formally presented to the African Symposium on Statistical Development or the Statistical Commission for Africa

Rounds of Census Number of countries that conducted census 1990 round round round36 Number of African Countries conducting census in 1990, 2000, 2010 Rounds At least 12 more countries have planned to conduct a PHC by December 2014

African countries that conducted census – some more facts  23 countries have conducted a census in all the three rounds  7 countries conducted census in 2010 round after 1990 round after having missed the 2000 round  Three countries (Djibouti, Liberia and Togo) have conducted a census in 2010 round after having missed the 1990 and 2000 rounds; Angola may join this group soon (2014) Djibouti - After 26 years Liberia - After 24 years Togo - After 29 years Angola - After 44 years !!

African initiative on Population and Housing Census for 2010 Round African Symposium on Statistical Development Starting 2006, led by Statistics South Africa, the statistical community in Africa came together annually for six consecutive years to To cooperate in ensuring that every African country undertakes census in the 2010 Round To share best practices on planning and management and planning, execution, processing, analysis and dissemination To promote South-South cooperation

African initiative on Population and Housing Census for 2010 Round Regional workshops on various aspects of census – mostly organized jointly by regional institutions and often in collaboration with UNSD Technical assistance to countries by ECA mainly in the area of cartography and data processing Handbooks -African Addendum to Principles and Recommendations -Handbook on Editing -Handbook on Tabulation

Key successes of Population and Housing Census for 2010 Round in Africa  Improved participation by countries  Improved budget allocation by countries  Improved timeliness in data release  Improved inter-country collaboration  Improved use of technology in the following areas - Census cartography (the most significant improvement) - Data capture (OCR/OMR/ICR technology) - Two countries already used hand-held devices in collecting data; two more countries to use soon

Key challenges of Population and Housing Census for 2010 Round in Africa  A few countries may finally not be able to conduct a census  Postponements of census dates – sometimes more than once  Management of politics of census – planning, process and data  Plans not prepared well in advance and sometimes do not cover all phases  Resource mobilization still a big challenge in many countries  Staff turnover affects management and technical capacity  Outsourcing contracts not always well managed

Key challenges of Population and Housing Census for 2010 Round in Africa  In-house capacity on technical aspects continues to be a major challenge  Dissemination is limited content and reach and does not go beyond release of a few tables through printed publications  Not much analysis of data, no or few thematic reports  Inadequate quality assurance framework – PES not planned, conducted or not undertaken with the required technical rigour  Administrative reports not written and even if done does not given the required focus and do not cover all phases

Proposed way forward  The regional organizations through the ASSD and other forums continue to pursue the remaining countries to complete their censuses as planned  Develop a regional programme on for 2020 round of Census through a systematic, coordinated and collaborative approach ECA, AfDB, AUC, UNFPA, UNDP and others to work together –support from UNSD  A systematic and sustainable capacity development programme – need to create a few Centres of Excellence in African institutions  Promote south-south cooperation through a) development of African census experts on various aspects b) sharing of best practices c) technical assistance by African experts d) sharing of equipments  Continued engagement through ASSD to support countries in their effort to mobilize political support and funds for census

Proposed way forward Areas that require increased focus in terms of capacity building Leadership and Management for senior census officials Planning and Monitoring Development of Quality Assurance Framework Data capture using hand-held devices and scanning Data editing and validation Data dissemination Data analysis Post Enumeration Survey

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