— 2022 National Population and Housing Census officially launched

THE 2022 National Population and Housing Census is expected to play a pivotal role in the developmental plans of Guyana within the next 10 years, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali said on Wednesday.

The Head of State made these remarks at the official launch of the 2022 census at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC). He said the collected data will be used to influence national development priorities in several key sectors that are pivotal to Guyana’s economic development.

According to the President, family planning, food security, career planning and urban and regional planning, along with the migration and immigration policies, are some of the strategic areas that the census will provide clarity for policy creation.

“A lot of questions are asked what will be our migration policy? What will be our national policy on meeting the labour requirements? What will be our immigration policy as a country but guess what? This census is critical in allowing us the opportunity to formulate those policies based on data,” the President stated.

Climate vulnerability, the net effect of natural disasters, land management information systems, the impact of the urban shift on agricultural land and the impact on population movement and shift are some of the other target areas that the census will provide data to guide policy decisions.

The President explained that the 10-year lifespan of a census provides consecutive governments with a basic map that could be used to set strategic immediate, medium- and long-term plans that promotes timely and relevant decision-making to achieve its national development agenda.

He noted that this type of data collection allows the government to readjust its policy stance to facilitate the best policies to support the development of its people, when needs be, based on the “facts on the ground”.

“The census allows us to build a system and build a country that ensures efficiency, reliability, and effectiveness of policymaking,” he said, noting that data allows for a better understanding of income patterns, citizens, their circumstances and their conditions.

A census is a collection of data to make decisions that impact people and gives the government a quantitative platform through which it can link development with people.

The Head of State said that the census will give the government the tools to identify some of these important gaps that exist across communities, within communities, and across regions which will facilitate targeted interventions.

“I can tell you that we are going to build a secondary school. But if I tell you we want to build a secondary school here, because the distance for children to attend a secondary school is 50 miles apart then I’m giving you something quantitative in nature to make a better decision. So, you might say well, okay, that is only just a matter of distance. Maybe we build a dorm or the next secondary school. But if you have another set of data that shows you that you have enough population in that community to build a secondary school then you will say that’s the best decision,” the President explained.

He also impressed upon the team heading the Guyana National Population and Housing Census 2022 that accuracy is a necessity and advised them to build into the census a testing mechanism to ensure that all citizens are accounted for.

He noted that accurate data is paramount for policy formulation.

“We cannot formulate policies in a vacuum with the absence of data. Using census data, we can say for example… between 2002 and 2012… one, the housing stock increase by 31,813 units, which is 70 per cent increase in that decade in that these new homes would have provided greater shelter and security for thousands of families. So immediately you’re able to measure the impact of the housing programme on people. What did the housing programme achieve? How did it impact families and people,” the President explained.