Decree of the President of Uzbekistan on conducting of Population census adopted as of 5 February 2019

Why Population Census is so important

• The information generated by a Population census – numbers of people, their distribution, their living conditions and other key data – is critical for development. Population census provides the facts essential to government for policy-making, planning and administration.
• Census gives the decision-making that facilitates the development of socio-economic policies -enhance the welfare of the population.
• The Population censuses helps with the equitable distribution of public funds, regional and central funding for things like educational programs, healthcare, law enforcement and highways is allocated in part based on population.
• Equitably distributing the billions of public money requires up-to-date population data. In broad terms, the census helps us see how our country is changing.
• The census data are useful not only for decision making government organizations, statistical offices and  lawmakers, but the same information may be of interest to research and marketing companies, private sector and political parties.
• The United Nations recommends that all countries or areas of the world produce detailed population and housing statistics for small-area domains at least once in the period 2015-2024, around the year 2020.

Role of UNFPA

• For United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) strengthening national capacity for production and dissemination of quality disaggregated data on population and development issues demography and population statistics is a priority.
• We assist Uzbekistan in improving capacity of the government at central and local level 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.
• The core mandate of UNFPA is to strengthen national capacity to ensure high quality censuses that meet international standards and wide dissemination and use of census data for development planning, implementation and monitoring.
• With programme presence in 155 countries, UNFPA is committed to strengthening national capacity for the production and use of population and housing census data, including for monitoring changes in population dynamics and spatial and social inequalities, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) beyond 2014.

• During the 2010 census round (censuses conducted between 2005 and 2014), UNFPA provided support to 135 countries, including 122 developing countries through, inter alia: technical assistance for policy dialogue and advocacy; capacity development; procurement of equipment or services; financial support; coordination and management of financial resources for the census on behalf of partner governments; and facilitation of South-South cooperation.
• In Uzbekistan UNFPA is ready to support population census in Uzbekistan, provide technical assistance and involve experienced international experts to develop census plan and budget, preparation of manuals, design of questionnaire, data processing systems and post-census activities.

SDG

• Aside from the answer to the question “How many are we?”, there is also a need to provide an answer to “Who are we?” in terms of age, sex, education, labor force status, occupation and other crucial characteristics, as well as to “Where do we live?” in terms of housing, access to water, availability of essential facilities and access to the Internet. The answers to these questions provide a numerical profile for evidence-based decision-making at all levels, and are indispensable for monitoring universally recognized and internationally adopted SDGs.
• Population-related elements are present in approximately 40% of the SDG indicators. Without appropriate, accurate, and timely data, framed by the principle of ‘no-one left behind’, our ability to monitor progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals will be constrained.
• Moreover, population census is mentioned in SDG Indicator 17.19.2: Proportion of countries that have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years.

(Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

Target 17.19: By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries

Indicator 17.19.2: Proportion of countries that (a) have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years; and (b) have achieved 100 per cent birth registration and 80 per cent death registration)

Method of conducting population census in Uzbekistan

• Traditional paper based (PAPI) approach is mentioned in the Decree as the main mode of data collection. However, we would suggest to use of handheld devices/ tablets  to support the main enumeration methodology as well.
• In computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI), the enumerator records the information directly on to an electronic questionnaire loaded on a tablet or laptop or other handheld electronic device. Following the interview, the data are sent to a central computing network electronically via the Internet or other means of data transfer.
• CAPI offers several advantages over the traditional paper-and-pencil method that translate into
  • cost savings,
  • reduced respondent burden,
  • improved quality of data, and
  • shorter timelines for completion of data processing through the automation of laborious and repetitive manual operations.
• Tablets could be used in Tashkent city and some of the other major cities.