The 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses Paul Cheung, Director United Nations Statistics Division

2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses  A long history of international cooperation 1958 – The first UN Programme on Population and Housing Censuses Followed by five rounds (one per decade)

2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses  Components:  Update and implement methodological standards  Assist countries to conduct at least one census in ten years ( )  Facilitate exchange of knowledge, technical assistance and data dissemination

Lessons learned from the 2000 round   201 out of 230 countries/areas conducted a census   91% of the world’s population   57% of African population   80% of Latin American population   National commitment and financial resources – key for success

Overview of 2000 round of censuses

Africa – 1990 and 2000 round of censuses 1990 round2000 round No census conducted

Countries’ practices   Census questionnaires used by countries between 1995 and 2004 are available at:   rces/census/censusquest.htm rces/census/censusquest.htm   They provide information on the potential availability of data by topic/country

Major Programme Activities  Updating the United Nations Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses  Major international standard – a measuring yardstick for critical socio-economic statistics  Comprehensive guidelines for collection, processing and tabulation  Major reference for users at all levels  Basic concepts and definitions

Definition of Population Census The total process of collecting, compiling, evaluating, analyzing and publishing or otherwise disseminating demographic, economic and social data pertaining, at a specified time, to all persons in a country or in a well-delimited part of a country. Essential features: Individual enumeration, Universality within a defined territory, Simultaneity, Defined periodicity

Definition of Usual Residence The place at which the person lives at the time of the census, and has been there for some time, or intends to stay there for some time. Countries apply a threshold of 12 months when considering place of usual residence according to: a)place at which the person has lived continuously for most of the last 12 months (min. of 6 months), or intends to live for at least six months; b)place at which the person has lived continuously for at least the last 12 months, or intends to live for at least 12 months.

Major Programme Activities Developing common output standards  Basic set of tabulations - 29 tables  Recommended set of tabulations - 43 tables  Optimum set of tabulations tables  All tables include meta-data gs/egm/censusegm06/docs/Issues%20for%20dis cussion.pdf

Expected Handbooks on censuses a.Use of Geographical Information Systems in Population and Housing Censuses; for census mapping, new advances in using geo- coding (geo-coding = assigning geographical coordinates to objects - houses and apartments, for example) using GPS (Global Positioning System) b.Census Documentation; ensuring thorough documentation, maintaining historical aspects, institutional memory, turnout of people between two censuses

Future Handbooks on the following topics c. c.Census Data Dissemination; crucial for the success of the census, to address different audiences, different media and provide feedback to the population d. d.Measuring economic characteristics in censuses complexity of coding of occupation and industry, definitions (current versus usual activity), framing of questions c. c.Census profiles, standards and metadata it describes the census meta-database containing all the questions ever asked in national census and other characteristics of a census

Major Programme Activities  Focus on regional cooperation  Regional interests in census collaboration  Developing common strategies and programmes  Providing assistance at regional and sub-regional levels  Workshops  Training  Transfer of knowledge  Joint activities

Major Programme Activities  Building methodological support  Meta-data database from the 2000 Round (census designs, questions, definitions, coverage)  Developing a web-site to exchange experiences  Planning for producing handbooks on specific topics – outsourcing of census operations, data dissemination  Assisting countries in the conduct of census

Major Programme Activities  Assisting data dissemination  Providing standardized tabulations layouts  Synthesizing and documenting best dissemination practices  Providing specific advice to countries upon request

Using census to build strong national statistical systems   Improving credibility and trust   Enhancing policy relevance   Building effective organizational structure   Developing professional culture   Promoting better data dissemination