GITEGA June 17th (ABP) – Preparations for the pilot census scheduled in a few months to better prepare for the 2022 General Population, Housing, Agriculture and Livestock Census are well underway, according to Mr. Nicolas Ndayishimiye, Director General of the Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies of Burundi (ISTEEBU).
It is in that very perspective of the preparations for the pilot census planned for next August that ISTEEBU opened on Monday in Gitega (central Burundi), a retreat to prepare methodological documents that will be used in the conduct of all the stages of the 2022 general census, for members of the census organizing technical committees.
The Director General of ISTEEBU then indicated that the preparations for the General Census of Population, Housing, Agriculture and Livestock (RGPAE) are on the right track, specifying that the institutional framework is already in place. He cited in particular the presidential decree establishing the RGPAE for the year 2022 which has already been enacted. There is also the presidential decree which sets up the governing bodies of the general census. Those bodies include the census steering committee and the census technical committee, among others.
In terms of methodological documents that will help to conduct the census properly, the technicians have already developed a global strategy for the RGPAE. They have already put in place a financial resource mobilization strategy and a social mobilization strategy. The latter is used in communication to gain the support from the entire population. The Director General of ISTEEBU believes that there will be no problems in carrying out this census successfully.
The results of the pilot census planned for a few months will make it possible to identify the challenges linked to the conduct of the census itself, and consequently to adopt the necessary strategies and improve the collection tools that will be used in 2022. The methodological documents to be produced during that 2-week retreat will accompany the strategic documents already in place.
As for the innovations of the next General Census of Population, Housing, Agriculture and Livestock in 2022 compared to the 3 censuses previously organized in Burundi, Mr. Ndayishimiye said that the previous censuses focused on the population and habitat only. But the next census also includes aspects of agriculture and livestock.
Also, the previous censuses had used the classic collection with use of paper but the next census will use new technologies, smart telephones, (android phones), and so on. They will also geo-reference public and private infrastructure to understand the state of play of housing improvement in Burundi.