President Hage Geingob has urged Namibians to play their part in this ‘Year of Revival’ to actively participate and cooperate during the 2023 National Population and Housing Census.
“Our participation will help the government make informed decisions, allocate resources more effectively, and plan for the future of our generations with greater accuracy,” he said yesterday during the launch of the 2023 census in the capital.
The event was attended by senior government officials among others.
The long overdue fourth National Population and Housing Census is scheduled to commence on 18 September and end on 3 November 2023. This period will include the enumeration as well as the post-enumeration survey (PES).
Conducted every decade, the 2021 National Population and Housing Census was delayed due to Covid-19 budgetary prioritisation.
“The census is one of the most powerful data-collection tools at our disposal and an intricate mechanism that plays a pivotal role in shaping our societies, economies and governments. Therefore, in Namibia, through the latest census, we will be able to gain insight into changing demographic details which play an indispensable role in the formulation of appropriate policies and distribution systems of resources,” said Geingob.
The President noted Namibia with its abundant resources, requires the right total number of human capital. For this reason, he said the census will provide the facts essential to government for policy-making, planning and administration, while also enabling the development of appropriate socio-economic policies aimed at enhancing the welfare of the population. The data, he said, will further allow government to identify areas in need of improvement as well as assist to ensure that no citizen is left behind.
Geingob further said government commitment to transparency, accountability, and data driven decision making should not just be a commitment on paper, but should be a commitment in action and that is why government made resources available, in a period of pressing economic needs, for the census.
At the same occasion, statistician general of the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) Alex Shimuafeni revealed that the enumerator training cost N$108 million, enumerators remuneration N$250 million, while vehicles from private individuals to be used for the census amounts to N$187 million.
NSA spokesperson Iipumbu Sakaria confirmed that this year’s census will be digital.
Namibia, as a member state of the United Nations (UN), recognises the importance of the Population and Housing Census (PHC) for national planning and evidence-based decision making and has tasked the NSA to conduct a PHC every 10 years.
A total of N$706 million has been allocated for the NSA to conduct the long overdue census.
Finance and public enterprises minister Iipumbu Shiimi, in his budget statement for the 2023/24 financial year, stated that an amount of N$921.1 million has been allocated to the National Planning Commission in the FY2023/24, primarily to cater for the census during the year. Further provision to the tune of N$20 million has been made for the NSA to undertake the preparatory activities for the 24th National Household Income and Expenditure Survey to be held during the FY2024/25.