Why we must fully participate in census

TOMORROW, Tanzania conducts the sixth National Population and Housing Census ((PHC) 2022), an exercise that will involve all Tanzanians. Every ten years, Tanzania conducts the population count, and tomorrow’s
census will be the sixth in a series that began in 1964.

Other censuses were conducted in 1967, 1978, 1988, 2002, and 2012. Population censuses are conducted to enable the country have data of its people.

The data provide essential information on the population’s spatial distribution, age and sex structure, and other key social and economic characteristics.

Because of this, the population censuses serve as unique source of information for benchmarking and for generating statistics for small areas and for small population groups.

According to the International Labour Organisation, census data on the economic characteristics of the population can be particularly useful to prepare basic tabulations of the population by their labour market situation (employed, unemployed, outside the labour force) or activity status (student, homemaker, etc) or to shed light on the labour market situation of small population groups (e.g. foreign-born persons, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, etc), small areas (e.g. unemployment hot spots), small worker groups (e.g. apprentices), or detailed industry and occupation groups, not often feasible with other data sources.

The census remains the primary source of data for the government – both at the national and local level – that dictates development policies, plans and programmes and determines resource allocation.

The data collected also plays a prominent role in providing the demographic surveillance necessary for monitoring and evaluating the Sustainable Development Goals, which place the highest priority on leaving no one behind and serving the furthest behind first.

In simple terms, census is a crucial undertaking as it enables policy makers and development planners to establish the amount of financial resources to be directed in a particular area.

For instance, the government cannot make a decision of building a school or a dispensary somewhere if it has no data of the population in the respective area. Likewise, policy makers are, to the great extent, guided by the country’s population data when drafting the documents.

These are among the reasons that compel each one of us to be counted. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, end of last week, assured the public that preparations for the demographic survey were complete by 96 per cent with
majority of Tanzanians being aware of the crucial exercise.

According to the PM, 99 per cent of Tanzanians were aware of the census to be conducted tomorrow. This is an important national population tally that no one should be left uncounted. We must all come forward to be counted.