The Somali authorities has launched its first nationwide inhabitants and housing census in many years, which is predicted to take two years.
“We might be counting those that dwell within the Somali territory and the homes they dwell in,” Dr. Abdi Ali Ige, head of the Somali Inhabitants and Housing Census, informed VOA’s Somali Service Tuesday.
Ige, who might be overseeing the challenge, stated the info collectors might be following a normal methodology used internationally to conduct the depend.
“We’re utilizing mixture of de facto and de jure methodology. Meaning we’re counting inhabitants we discover on the day of the counting,” he stated. “[For] the nomadic inhabitants and the homeless, we’re utilizing de jure methodology. Meaning we’re asking folks the place they often dwell — it is mixture of two methodologies as a result of Somalis have totally different inhabitants strata.”
30,000 information collectors
Ige stated the census will begin within the city inhabitants then transfer to the agricultural and nomadic populations.
“Earlier than the depend is performed, there might be mapping of the nation utilizing satellite tv for pc imagery of cities and cities, villages, and rural areas,” he stated.
He stated mapping will take about eight months. There may also be coaching for the 30,000 information collectors earlier than the counting begins in October 2024.
“The census might be concluded from two weeks to at least one month … each home might be knocked,” he stated.
1.4 million displaced
The United Nations estimates that 1.4 million Somalis have been displaced by the present droughts. Ige stated the census staff is conscious of the inhabitants motion and it is going to be concentrating on the short-term nomadic settlements utilizing satellite tv for pc imagery.
“Each village or district has a short lived nomadic settlement,” he stated, explaining that the timing of the census will coincide with autumn rains, when nomadic communities return to their locations of origin.
Somalia final performed a proper census in 1975, which recorded a complete inhabitants of 4.2 million, Ige stated. He stated a second census passed off in 1984 however was not revealed. Since that point, inhabitants figures given by Somali and United Nations officers estimate Somalis to quantity between 12 and 16 million.
The United Nations Inhabitants Fund, which is supporting the Somali authorities census, additionally expressed confidence within the challenge in the course of the launch in Mogadishu.
“We’re going to be delivering a contemporary census for Somalia by way of fashionable expertise,” says Niyi Ojuolape, UNFPA nation consultant.
“We plan to have fashionable information safety; we’re additionally going to be processing the info that we’ll be utilizing by way of the most recent expertise.”
Ojuolape stated the staff that’s conducting the census is product of each UNFPA and the Somali nationwide bureau of statistics; and consists of demographers, statisticians, GIS (geographic data system) evaluation, IT and communications specialists.
Ige stated consultations have been made with the federal states and Somaliland about conducting the census.
However officers anticipate challenges, significantly in areas managed by al-Shabab militants. Ojuolape says officers might be utilizing expertise to conduct census mapping and get estimates of the folks residing in these areas.
“There are specific locations which may be troublesome for us to succeed in and we’ll want satellite tv for pc imagery to assist us to get these figures,” he stated.
“As well as, satellite tv for pc imagery may also assist us to validate no matter figures we get on the finish of the day as a result of the 2 should work collectively.”
Knowledge will assist authorities plan
Ige stated the Somali authorities informed the staff that so-called inaccessible areas might be free by October subsequent yr.
“However now we have a plan utilized in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali and Colombia. We’ve a mannequin, which is satellite tv for pc imaging referred to as Grid 3, which we’ll use if we’re unable to succeed in a spot,” he stated.
Officers described the census as a vital train that can permit the Somali authorities to plan and implement insurance policies and applications that meet the wants of its residents.
“Technology of information and utilization of information is on the coronary heart of governance,” stated Salah Jama, the deputy prime minister of Somalia, who launched the census.
“It’s paramount for good authorities. It’s paramount for improvement beneficial properties.”
If concluded efficiently, the census may also come forward of the 2026 elections. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud promised to arrange direct elections in a televised Mogadishu city corridor Monday night time.
Assuring the residents that their data might be stored confidential and used just for statistical functions, the federal government urged residents to take part within the census and supply correct data.
