Steve Nashama
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) has announced the postponement of the 2023 Population and Housing Census to August 2023, again.
The census has been delayed since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when it was initially planned to be conducted, while in 2021 and 2022 was due to financial restrictions.
In a media release, NSA Statistician-General and Chief Executive Officer, Alex Shimuafeni, explains that the census is conducted every ten years and is essentially a process of collecting, processing, analysing, publishing and disseminating demographic, socio-economic and spatial data of the population during a specific period of time.
He emphasizes that the Census is the only data source that provides information at the smallest geographic areas and for small population groups in the county, adding that the Census main enumeration is planned to take place from August to October 2023 in all corners of Namibia.
Shimuafeni further stressed that the Population and Housing Census provides information on the population and housing characteristics of the country in order to guide development planning, and decision-making as well as to monitor and evaluate developmental progress.
“Namibia’s census will for the first time be a spatially-enabled and digital census. The modus operandi will be that NSA enumerators will visit each and every household in Namibia, during a three-week period in order to undertake a total count and collect demographic and social data,” he says.
According to the media release, the 2023-2024 financial budget, government allocated the Agency an amount of N$706 million to undertake the 2023 population and housing census.
“We are sincerely grateful that our Government has committed itself to fund this critical exercise which is a major source of national data required for planning, decision making and monitoring of development goals at the lowest level possible there is,” he says.
The institution plans to recruit about 13, 000 temporary workers that include team supervisors, team supervisors, enumerators, constituency supervisors, IT technicians, statisticians, data monitors, programmers, HR practitioners, legal experts, communication specialists, procurement officers and fleet officers.
The Statistician-General designates that all positions will be advertised in all media platforms, including the NSA website, the Namibia Integrated Employment Information System (NIEIS) and regional and local authority offices.
Job applications are to be conducted through an online recruitment system, and the Agency promises to give opportunities to unemployed people through their respective constituencies.
Shimuafeni says the Agency appreciates the assistance rendered by all households in Namibia for the past surveys, censuses and mapping exercises, adding that It is only through the cooperation of fellow Namibian citizens that the institution is able to collect data and provide statistics.
He urges all citizens, households and those that find themselves within the boundaries of Namibia during the upcoming Census period, to cooperate with enumerators and ensure that they are counted.
