Page 229 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 2

IPS224 Jean-Michel Durr
topics included in the census questionnaire, as well as other statistical
operations, are fully relevant.
At local level, the need for census commissions should be carefully
evaluated. Are they really needed? Logistical support can be carried out by
one person responsible at local authority level to provide training facilities,
storage space, and support fieldworkers in case of refusals to respond to the
census. The “political” control of the enumeration, sometimes entrusted to
local census commissions, is highly questionable, as it insinuates that the NSO
may not be reliable to conduct the census in a neutral way, thus raising
suspicion about the operation.
International organisations have also a role to play. They support censuses
in many developing countries, organizing resource mobilization and providing
technical assistance. This gives them the right and ability to publicly denounce
misconducts and even withdraw support, but they rarely use it. Stronger donor
involvement in ethics and compliance with international standards in the
conduct of census operations would also help mitigate political interference
in the censuses they support.

4. Conclusion
While promoting and supporting the population and housing census, the
Government must adopt a neutral attitude, refraining from taking the lead
over the operation, with the risk that the census would be seen by the
population as a governmental operation. The Government should
communicate on the importance of the census for the country but
emphasizing the role of the NSO in designing and conducting the operation.
It is also very important to clearly separate the census from other operations,
such as using the census to build an administrative register, unless this is
explicitly provided by the census law, or asking the enumerators to collect
information for additional survey, for example on the opinion of the public on
a governmental project. The publication of the census results should be the
sole responsibility of the NSO or Census agency, without any “approval” from
the Government, even where the population counts are authenticated in the
official gazette.
Finally, the role of the media is key in a democracy. They must be informed
early enough of the privacy and neutrality purpose and safeguards of the
census, to ensure that enumeration and subsequent steps are conducted in
accordance with these principles. Regularly communicating with the media is
the best way for the NSO to ensure transparency throughout the census
operation.

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