Symposium 2001/53

6 August 2001

English only

Symposium on Global Review of 2000 Round of

Population and Housing Censuses:

Mid-Decade Assessment and Future Prospects

Statistics Division

Department of Economic and Social Affairs

United Nations Secretariat

New York, 7-10 August 2001

Statement from the United Nations Population Division *

1. From its earliest years, the United Nations recognized the vital importance of population and housing censuses. At the very first session of the Population Commission, held in Lake Success, New York, in February 1947, the Secretary-General, in his report to the Commission (E/CN.9/3, 4 Feb 1947), stated that:

“Nearly every branch of the Organization and of the specialized agencies requires prompt and reliable information on the number and characteristics of people in different parts of the world and on the manner in which their numbers are changing by birth, death and migration. We need accurate human accounting.”

2. In 1949, the United Nations looked forward to the time “when the whole world population will be covered by accurate, up-to-date statistics, as a consequence of a universal awareness of the importance of this information for the welfare of the people” (ST/SOA/SER.A/3, Dec 1949).

3. Fifty years later, considerable progress has been achieved. Nevertheless, a great deal remains to be done. As concluded in the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), adopted in Cairo in 1994, “While there have been marked improvements in the availability of population and related development data …, many gaps remain with regard to the quality and coverage of baseline information” (ST/ESA/SER.A/149, 1995). On this basis, the ICPD Programme of Action set objectives “to establish a factual basis” for actions, “to strengthen national capacity to seek new information and meet the need for basic data collection, analysis and dissemination”, and to “ensure political commitment to … the need for data collection on a regular basis and the analysis, dissemination and full utilization of data”.

4. In this regard, the Population Division would like to highlight a number of issues.

• Censuses are paramount for societies as they provide the best estimates of population size and distribution, and remain the primary vehicle for estimating population movements, both internally and internationally. Even when accurate registration data are available, censuses are necessary and indispensable sources of information concerning a country’s population.

• Accurate and timely census data are also essential for the work of the United Nations, and in particular the Population Division. Census data are critical ingredients for studies on population growth, structure and distribution, on the interrelationships among population variables, economic and environmental change and other “non-demographic aspects” of society. Population censuses are also critical for the monitoring and appraising of the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action.

• For most countries, population censuses provide a factual and sound basis for the formulation of population and development policies and implementation of social and economic programmes. However, an increasing number of countries are reporting financial and other difficulties in securing funds to carry out censuses. In this regard, it is of importance that, at a special session (30 June to 2 July 1999) for the purpose of a five-year review to review and appraise the implementation of the Programme of Action, the General Assembly urged the United Nations system and donors “to strengthen the capacity of developing countries, particularly the least developed countries and those with economies in transition, to undertake censuses and surveys on a regular basis …” (ST/ESA/SER.A/182). United Nations funds and programmes, as well as other donors, may be able to provide some of this essential assistance.

• An important feature of a modern society is a well-informed public. Public support for data collection is essential for successful census undertakings. Moreover, it is important that census results are available for careful analysis and scrutiny by the professional community.

• Comparing experience and insights on when and under what circumstances censuses succeed is beneficial to all. In particular, it will strengthen the likelihood that each country’s next census round is more complete and more accurate than the previous one.

• Finally, we hope that the Statistics Division will organize follow-up seminars and symposia in the future to help sustain the momentum and interest achieved by this important meeting.

5. We offer our congratulations to our colleagues in the Statistics Division/DESA for having organized this essential symposium and are grateful for being invited to participate.

---

* This document was reproduced without formal editing.

United Nations Population Division (UNPD), New York. The views expressed in the paper are those of the author and do not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of the United Nations Secretariat.