Population census for next year – Dr Ashni Singh

Preparatory works have begun for Guyana’s national population census next year, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh has said.

Speaking during a press conference on July 11, the minister explained that “a significant amount of preparatory and anticipatory work has already begun” to ensure that the 2012 census is successfully completed next year, in keeping with the 10-year cycle for censuses. The last national census was held in 2002.

“The development of forms, databases, putting in place several systems, and the recruitment and training of staff all have to be undertaken as part of this preparatory process”, Dr Singh related. He disclosed that the actual work with respect to the execution of the census will be intensified during the first half of next year.

Guyana has already begun participating in a series of meetings with its sister Caricom countries, and has been part of several regional engagements which are aimed at coordinating census preparation from a regional standpoint. “We have been participating fully in regional engagements on preparations and capacity-building activities that are pertinent and relevant to the execution of censuses in the region”, Singh acknowledged.

Some of the main objectives of the population census, which would be executed next year, include determining the present size and distribution of the population, reviewing and documenting the present status of the population with regard to socio- economic characteristics, and indicating any change in the pattern of the population since the 2002 census was completed.

As in 2002, the exercise will also aim to evaluate any qualitative change in selected socio-economic characteristics of the population, to present general appraisals of some selected living and housing conditions in the country, and to provide a comprehensive pool of information for policy-makers to be used as a tool for immediate and future planning purposes.

The 2012 population and housing census will be the seventh census of a de facto count of the population of Guyana since the first post- war census of 1946. The conduct of each of these censuses had brought its own challenges, as societal norms and values and country- specific socio- economic conditions change.

Last month, the Caricom Secretariat reported that ten Caribbean countries were undertaking census activities this year as the region continues to conduct population and housing censuses. Those countries are St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Montserrat, Anguilla, and Antigua and Barbuda.

The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Saint Lucia, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands began census activities last year. They are actively processing their data and, in some cases, have already disseminated some preliminary results.

Against the background of the acknowledged need for countries to produce high-quality census results in a timely manner for a variety of users, the Caricom Secretariat is approaching its development partners to secure funding to assist in the process of census data analysis, to enable greater use of the census results.

For the 2010 round of population and housing census, Caricom has taken a regionally-coordinated approach, and there are common elements in the questionnaires.

The 2010 regional strategy to support the 2010 census was approved by the Community Council of Ministers in 2009.

Harmonised training in various census activities, such as methodologies, data processing, and dissemination, are also part of the regional strategy to have a common approach on the conduct of the censuses. Support was provided through the services of a consultant to enable the countries to prepare their maps and to strengthen capacity in geographic information systems (GIS) which will be useful in the dissemination of the census results by area.