Iipumbu Sakaria
WINDHOEK - The Namibia Statistics Agency will be conducting its 2018 Labour Force Survey from the 16th September to 16th October 2018. The main purpose of conducting this survey is to collect socio-economic data for the assessment of the labour market conditions. It is from this survey where the Agency derives the employment and unemployment rates for the country. This survey further provides details on the sectors of employment, educational attainment and other important socio-economic indicators.
The survey will take place throughout the entire country and in all 14 regions. In order to get a representative sample, primary sampling units will be selected, and it is only in those sampling units where results will be obtained. Hence, not each and every household will be visited and interviewed.
The modus of operandi for this survey is simple. There is the listing phase as well as the interviewing phase. The listing phase will be done during the first two (2) weeks of the survey. During that period our enumerators will come to a household, ask information about the head of the household and the number of household members residing in that household during a specifically determined period. Then that house is ‘listed’. Thereafter around 18 randomly selected households in each listed sampling unit will be interviewed and will represent all the households with that sampling unit. These 18 households will all be interviewed within that specific two weeks of the survey.
Our field staff will be easily identifiable. They will at all times be identifiable by their ID cards and marked vehicles with the Namibia Statistics Agency logo, national identity number as well as their photo. Security is being taken very serious here and the public is urged to report any suspicious persons seeking entry to your house immediately to the nearest police. The police force in the entire country has been made aware of this and are more than ready to assist where needs be.
We would hence like to urge the nation to fully participate in this and give our enumerators their full cooperation. It is only through such cooperation and teamwork that we are able to collect information that are needed for development. The nation is further urged to take note that only when they provide accurate information can correct decisions, plans and policies be crafted that ensure genuine development for Namibia. Let us do this for statistics for development.
*Iipumbu Sakaria is the Manager for Corporate Communications