On 25 September 2019 a donors’ meeting on population census was held at the State Committee on Statistics with the support of UNFPA and participation of the representatives of several international organizations (IOM, UNDP, UNHCR, USAID and WB), embassies in Uzbekistan (Embassy of Russian Federation, Embassy of Swiss Confederation), the Ministry of Economy and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations.
At the end of 2017 the Government of Uzbekistan announced its intention to conduct a population census in 2022. The last census in Uzbekistan was carried out in 1989, almost 30 years ago. Therefore, the government’s decision to conduct a population census is a historic decision to obtain high-quality, reliable and complete statistics.
Information obtained from the census — the number of people, their distribution, their living conditions and other key data — is crucial for development planning.
The main purpose of the meeting was discussion of cooperation possibility between the State Committee on Statistics and international organizations.
During the meeting, the importance of the assistance provided by international organizations, in particular, UNFPA, in the preparation and conduct of the census of the population in Uzbekistan in 2022, was noted.
"For UNFPA strengthening national capacity for production and dissemination of quality disaggregated data on population and development issues, and population statistics is a priority. We assist Uzbekistan in improving the capacity of the government to collect, analyze and use population data for formulation of socio-economic development strategies and promote understanding of the linkages between population data and development"- Mr. Pedro Pablo Villanueva, UNFPA Acting Representative in Uzbekistan
The Statistics Committee informed participants that the Government adopted the Decree, established the Census Council headed by the Prime-Minister, and designated local authorities to lead preparations in the regions. The Statistics Committee has done preparatory work also with the support of UNFPA, including capacity assessment, the draft law on census (submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers) and the census plan. The Committee also noted that there was need to strengthen the capacities of staff at central and local levels, informed the participants that the Committee was working on census questionnaire which would be discussed with partners.
The representatives of Embassies and international organizations noted that census was very important exercise for the country, for evidence-based policy making and international community to better understand population dynamics, socio-economic development of the country. They expressed their support to the census process, and noted that regular coordination platform led by the government would help all partners to discuss key developments, plan their support, avoid duplication of efforts and ensure efficient use of resources to support preparation to census.
