Demographic and Social Statistics

• Opening remarks by UN Statistics Division (UNSD), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)
• Introduction of participants and administrative matters

The session introduces the objectives of the 2020 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses and UNSD's activities to improve countries' statistical capacity to effectively conduct population and housing censuses. UNSD works towards this objective through the promotion of international standards and methodological guidelines and capacity-building activities and the facilitation of the exchange of national experience and know-how. UNSD's presentation will provide an overview of the revised international standards for conducting population and housing censuses as contained in the Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses, Revision 3 and the Handbook on the Management of Population and Housing Censuses, Revision 2, highlighting the changes or features that distinguish the current revisions from earlier ones. This session will also provide an overview of the programmes and activities of the UNFPA, UNECA and AfDB to support census-taking in the 2020 round. The session will review the major issues and common challenges facing the Eastern and Northern Africa regions.

• Presentation by UNSD, UNFPA, UNECA, AfDB
• Discussion

The session covers the essential features, definitions and major roles of population and housing censuses. It will also discuss the methodologies for producing census statistics as compiled from cumulative national experience in previous rounds of population and housing censuses. Although most countries are expected to continue using the traditional census approach, it is anticipated that an increasing numbers of countries intend to use alternative methodologies.

• Presentation by UNSD
• Discussion

The session provides an overview of international recommendations on census management and planning. The planning and implementation of census operations entail complex technical and administrative tasks. The operational challenges that countries often face include adhering to schedule and budget, outsourcing of census activities, contract management, monitoring fieldwork, quality control, logistics and procurement and integration of technology. Increasing use of advanced technologies and multi-mode collection methods have raised the stakes for sound planning and management. Drawing from contemporary developments in census-taking and the elaborations in the Principles and Recommendations and the Handbook, UNSD's presentation identifies key areas in census operations that require careful planning and preparation.

• Presentation by UNSD
• Country presentations by Egypt, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania
• Discussion

Group discussions will be held on selected topics pertaining to population and housing censuses. Two groups will be formed and one facilitator and one rapporteur will be appointed to lead the discussion in each group. On the last day of the meeting, the facilitators/rapporteurs will present the outcomes of the group discussions.

The session provides an overview of international recommendations and standards on quality control in census operations. The session stresses on the importance of a comprehensive and systematic quality assurance programme integrated as part of the overall census programme and reviews the objectives and planning aspects of monitoring the quality of census processes and the evaluation of data quality. The session also gives opportunity for the presentation of 2020 round national plans for quality assurance of main census processes (including cartography, questionnaire design, enumeration, data processing and dissemination) and for evaluation of data quality (including the methods to be used). Presentations by countries are also expected to discuss challenges in undertaking quality assurance programmes.

• Presentation by UNSD
• Country presentations by Libya, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Swaziland
• Discussion

The session discusses population and housing census topics as recommended in the current version of the Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses. The session will focus on substantial changes in the topics as well as the changes in definitions and classifications of the recommended core and non-core topics. It will also address important factors for the choice of topics including the need to balance national needs and international comparability. The session will also benefit from presentations on national practices on determination of topics for collection and tabulation and challenges in implementation.

• Presentation by UNSD
• Country presentations by Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, Tanzania
• Discussion

The session reviews international recommendations in census cartography and the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in census geography, including for mapping, data collection and dissemination. It also provides an overview of the role of maps in the census, GIS fundamentals, the stages of building a census geography programme, costs and benefits of investing in geospatial technology, needs assessment and definition of national census geography, and the institutional and organizational issues associated with census management and planning. The session will benefit from the sharing of national experience and practice in Southern Africa in the use of contemporary census mapping technologies including GIS, GPS and remote sensing.

• Presentation by UNFPA
• Country presentations by Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda
• Discussion

The application of geospatial technologies—in the collection of georeferenced data and in the integration of geographic data with remotely-sensed images—has transformed census-mapping and the management of fieldwork. It has resulted in significant improvements in census operations. This session is devoted to a discussion of how the application of geospatial technologies could be efficiently used for modernisation of census operations during the enumeration phase.

• Presentation by ECA
• Country presentations by Egypt, Sudan, Swaziland
• Discussion

Recent advances in technology have allowed national statistical organizations to innovate and modernise census processes, thereby improving the quality and timeliness of census results. The use of electronic data collection technologies—along with use of geospatial technologies—have substantially impacted considerations for planning, designing and implementing census operations. This session will discuss key issues that have to be taken into consideration before making a decision for the adoption of hand-held electronic devices/Internet for census data collection as well as discuss important considerations in the planning, preparation and design of census operations when using electronic data collection technologies. Furthermore, given that multi-mode data collection approaches (the use of hand-held devices with Internet and/or with paper questionnaires) are increasingly being used by countries, the session will also discuss additional challenges arising from the use of multi-mode collection.

• Presentation by UNSD
• Country presentations by Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan
• Discussion

Several countries made use of handheld electronic devices for data collection in the 2010 round. The number of NSOs planning to use these technologies is expected to grow in the 2020 round. Use of electronic data collection technologies in the enumeration phase requires significant changes in organisation and management of the field work. This session will discuss important features for the selection and acquisition of handheld devices and data collection applications as well as operational aspects for the use of these devices in census operations, including data transmission, security, testing, logistics and aspects of field enumeration organization and management. Presentation of national experience in the use of handheld electronic devices in censuses/surveys will highlight the opportunities and challenges of using such technologies in the Eastern and Northern Africa regions.

• Presentation by ECA
• Country presentations by Egypt, Swaziland, Tanzania
• Discussion

Facilitators/rapporteurs will present the outcomes of group discussions, including any conclusions and recommendations, on the selected topics.

• Presentation by facilitators/rapporteurs
• Discussion

• Recommendations and conclusions of the workshop
• Discussion