Uzbekistan is preparing for its first census in more than three decades, and UNFPA has been supporting the preparations to it in close cooperation with international partners. One of the key expert partners in this process has been CIS-Stat (Interstate Statistical Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States). In particular, UNFPA and CIS-Stat in close engagement of international experts, development partners supported the State Statistics Committee to finalize the census questionnaire, to develop and finalize census methodological documents.

Mr. Vladimir Sokolin, Chairperson of CIS-Stat is visiting Uzbekistan to study the preparations to the Pilot census and to share international best practices for successful conduct of this important milestone exercise on 1-25 November 2021. Pilot census will be conducted in four districts of the country to test all systems, staff capacities for lessons learned to be used in the main Population and Housing Census (to be conducted on 1-25 November, 2023).

Before his appointment to his current post, Mr. Vladimir Sokolin served as the Chair of the Statistics Agency of the Russian Federation. He managed the preparation and conduct of population census of the Russian Federation in 2002. He was elected as the Vice-Chair of UN Statistical Commission, and the Conference of European statisticians of UNECE. He is the member of International Institute of Statistics.

During his visit to Uzbekistan Mr. Sokolin  visited the central office of the Statistics Committee, pilot census district in Tashkent region, and participated in a seminar for census staff.

 On 8 April, 2021 UNFPA, Statistics Committee management and staff had a joint meeting with Mr. Sokolin to discuss preparations, and key actions and milestones to be achieved until the Pilot census. Mr. Yu Yu, UNFPA Representative in Uzbekistan noted the importance of coordination and continued expert support from CIS-Stat, and thanked Mr. Sokolin for joint collaboration in revision of key census methodological documents, and sharing experience and lessons learned from census in CIS countries.

Mr. Sokolin also commended the coordination and support provided by UNFPA. He noted the progress achieved, and highlighted key issues to be addressed in preparation process. Mr.Sokolin noted the importance of the census in Uzbekistan for statistics in CIS region, and appreciated UNFPA’s continued coordination and support to the census. In particular, he emphasized the importance of support in development of the internet-based questionnaire, and integration of data from internet and aper based questionnaire into one database. He also noted the complexity of data management system and short time left for its development, therefore the importance of experienced international consultancy in this area. He offered CIS-Stat support in identifying highly qualified specialist and provide expert advice.

            The UNFPA regional project “CISPop: Better Data for Better Policies”

The meeting participants also praised the financial and expert support provided by the UNFPA regional project “CISPop: Better Data for Better Policies” funded by the Russian Federation, which along with contributions from the Government of Switzerland, UNHCR, and expert advice from EU, US Census Bureau, World bank has been playing critical role in technical assistance support to the Population and Housing Census in Uzbekistan.