CENSUS EXPERTS TO TACKLE DIFFICULT ISSUES AT UNITED NATIONS SYMPOSIUM

NEW YORK, 3 August (Department of Public Information) -- Are there really 6.1 billion people in the world?  If so, how do we know?  How do we know that the count and descriptions of people through population censuses are correct?  What methods and technologies do we use to count them?  These are some of the difficult question that census experts from around the world will cover at the symposium to be held in New York this week.

Some 55 heads of population and housing census programmes, who are responsible for counting three fourths of the world’s population, will meet from 7-10 August to identify issues and problems that emerged during the current census round which started in 1995 and ends in 2004.  They will also try to find solutions to some of the difficulties they encountered and formulate national strategies for effective population counts.

Examples of the challenges they face include nomadic groups who may need to be counted at local watering holes because they move seasonally, or homeless people and refugees who do not have permanent addresses or locations and indigenous people who may need to be carefully informed about the purpose of the questions being asked in order to allay whatever suspicions they may have.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, where a census is planned in 2003, the protracted war in that country means that officials would face particular difficulties with counting displaced people and refugees.

In Mauritania, a developing country where 2.5 million people are dispersed across a vast territory of approximately one million square kilometres, such distances result in a laborious and expensive census operation.  Officials encountered difficulties in gaining access at certain points due to desert conditions and lack of access to water in some locations.  When counting desert people, enumerators were required to carry sufficient water with them into the areas in which they worked.  Vehicles had to be equipped with radios and geographic positioning system equipment so that they could transmit their positions to local leaders.

The outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Ireland led to the planned

2001 census being postponed for a year in order to prevent the disease from spreading, while in India the 2001 census was postponed in areas which were devastated by the recent earthquake.

In Mongolia, very heavy snowfalls affected the enumeration of people because households and even villages temporarily moved to other locations, where the effect was less, thus affecting the logistics of census operations.

In several countries, the timing of the census was changed owing to political elections and in other cases, shortage of funds.

The use of new technologies in census operations will be one of the six main issues that the symposium will focus on.  Participants will discuss how countries should select the appropriate technology, taking into consideration the high costs of equipment, access to maintenance and the lack of necessary expertise.

The symposium is the mid-decade assessment of the Global Review of

2000 Round of Population and Housing Censuses.  Thus far, population and housing censuses have been completed in about three out of four countries planning to conduct a census between 1995-2004.  What experts learned from this round will be used to try to improve the next round of censuses which starts in 2005. 

A recent Economic and Social Council resolution stressed that periodic population and housing censuses are among the primary sources of data needed for effective development planning and the monitoring of population and socio-economic issues and environmental trends aimed at improving living standards.  To facilitate the process, the United Nations Statistics Division prepares principles and recommendations and handbooks for countries.

For further information, please contact Mary Chamie, United Nations Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs on 212 963 4869,

e-mail: demostat@un.org or Rosamond Bakari, Department of Public Information, on 212 963 4382, e-mail: bakari@un.org

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