1. Lessons Learned from 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census and
Session 4
Census Planning and Management
Lessons Learned from 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census and
Planning for 2019 By-Census
Yin Yin Kyaing, Deputy Director
Department of Population
MYANMAR

2. Contents: The 2014 Census Challenges of 2014 Census
Lessons learned from 2014 Census
Consideration for 2019 By-Census

3. 2014 Population and Housing Census
Myanmar conducted its population and housing census in March 2014, the first census in 30 years
Technical and financial support from UNFPA and donors enabled DOP to conduct a census whose results have been released in a timely and accessible manner
Data analysis has been carried out with intense consultation with potential data users (government, civil society organizations, private sector, academia, community leaders and development partners) and disseminations in different forms are on going process.

4. Census Process
The census process involves several components, which can be grouped into four broad stages:-
(1) Planning, management and preparatory work ( – )
(2) Field operations ( )
(3) Data processing ( )
(4) Census products and dissemination
( )

5. Coordination structure
Central Census Commission
Central Census Committee
National Advisory Committee ( NAC )
State/Regional, District, Township Committees
ITAB
Supervisory
Structure
Ministry of Immigration and Population
Department of Population
Department of Immigration
State/Region, District, Township Immigration Offices
Institutional
Structure
National Census Coordinator
Chief Technical Advisor and consultants
Officials responsible for Budget, Data Processing, Cartography, Training, Publicity, etc
Implementation
Structure

6. Preparatory Work Basic Population and Area Listing EA maps
Questionnaire Design and instruction manual
Pilot Census, Printing & Distribution of all documents
OMR System and Data Processing
Recruitment of Enumerators & Supervisors
Publicity campaign
Population and Housing Census law (2013)

7. Field Operation
Enumeration took place from 30 March to 10 April 2014 in almost all parts of the country
About 83,000 enumerators and 25,000 supervisors were deployed across the country
A team of 47 independent observers (23 international, 24 national) carried out observation in all States and Divisions

8. Data Processing Data Entry from Summary sheet for Preliminary Results
Preparation for Scanning
Scanning
Character Inspection and Key Correction
Editing and Coding
Data analysis and Tabulation

9. Data Products Census reports Maps and Atlas
Tabulations and databases
Excel Tables
Microdata
Geographic data
Interactive data sets/map, REDATAM, etc.
Publications and reports
Census reports
Maps and Atlas
14 Thematic Analysis Reports
Methodological reports and documentation
Administrative reports
Data products consist of three product types.
Tabulations and databases
Publications and reports
Metadata
Tabulations and databases are the releases of the data. These include tabulations, microdata, and geographic data such as shapefiles, lines, and other data needed to make maps.
Publications and reports have accompanying text or involves a level of analysis. These include census reports, maps and atlases, general interest and special audience products, methodological reports and documentation, and administrative reports.
The third group of data products are metadata which are data about the data.

10. Selected Key Findings from the Census
Number of States 15
Total Population
51,486,253
Male
24,824,586 (48.2%)
Female
26,661,667 (51.8%)
% urban
30%
Area (Km2)
676,577.2
density (per Km2)
76.1
Median age
27.1
Annual population GR
0.89%
Mean household size
4.4
Sex ratio 93

11. Challenges
Too little lead time to plan for the Census and a lot of activities had to be done in a short period
Ongoing conflicts
The importance of ethnic identity, including to political representation (ethnicity questions)
Proximity to the 2015 national election
Early Census in some areas (accessibility, tensions, hash weathers…)

12. Challenges
Proximity to the Matriculation exam (Recruitment of supervisors and enumerators)
Widespread use of languages
Payment to Supervisors and enumerators
Heavy workload of Mapping Operation
Disability Questions

13. Lessons learned Participation and Ownership of the Census
Observation mission
Capacity gaps and capacity building
Use of Modern Technology
Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration

14. Participation and Ownership of the Census
Ownership of the census was achieved through the following:
Engaging with Key leaders (Religious, Ethnics, Political..) 
Engaging with Civil Societies (the National Advisor Committee, NGO networks, INGOs, Youths, Women’s groups, etc.)
Implementation of a robust communication and publicity campaign, reaching almost all corners of the country
Involvement and consultation of various interest groups to make input into the Census (e.g. questionnaire design, tabulation plan, thematic analysis, etc.; and for specialised topics such as disability, labour force, etc).

15. Capacity gaps and capacity building
Capacity gap in organising and implementing a census due to lack of census for 30 years.  
Instituting a technically credible and internationally representative technical advisory board (ITAB), with diverse range of expertise, advise and support the Ministry of Immigration and Population in the implementation of the census.
The ITAB drew membership from 15 highly qualified demographers, statisticians and social scientists from different countries and institutions involved in censuses across the world.
South-South cooperation by inviting technical experts from India and Australia in the development of Census materials.

16. Observation Mission during Enumeration
23 international observers from 20 countries, experts in data collection and previously involved with census observation, census operation, census analysis or large-scale surveys.
24 national observers researchers with experience in socio- economic data collection and analysis.

17. Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration
 Use of Modern Technology
Data capture was done through state-of-the-art scanning technology.
The timely release of the census result was largely due to the embracing and utilisation of modern technologies
Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration
The involvement of other Ministries and Government Departments contributed immensely to the success of the Census (MOE, MOHA, MOHS..etc)
The General Administration Department at the Township level facilitated the preparation and execution of the census.

18. Consideration for 2019 By-Census
The next Population Census in 2024.
Ten years between two Censuses is rather long in an era when Socio-economic situation of a country changes rapidly.
Planning to conduct a By-Census in (5%) to fulfill the data gap between the two Censuses
Will emphasize more on migration, education and disability information
Will be used for population projection of the country

19. Consideration for 2019 By-Census
(What have we done so far)
Minister approved.
Preparing the plan to submit to Cabinet
Estimated Costing
Resource mobilization (Government budget/donors)

20. Consideration for 2019 By-Census
Preparation of Project document
An assessment of the accessibility of the roads, terrain, available transportation facilities, weather and security conditions will be made in order to incorporate such challenges in the plan.
Consultation process will be done during early stages of planning with different stakeholders, communities and groups.
Supervisors and enumerators will be recruited voluntarily.

21. Consideration for 2019 By-Census
Sensitive questions (ethnicity, religion) will not be included in the questionnaire.
For the question on disability, the 6 domains recommended by the Washington Group on Disability will be utilized.
Detailed information on Migration and Education will be included.
Modern technology for Mapping (GIS) and Data Collection (CAPI - Computer-Assisted Person Interviewing)

22. Thank you