Africa-Press – Liberia. The Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) has begun the 2022 National Population and Housing Census training of trainers on the pre-test activities and E-recruitment process for interested applicants.
Since the last population census in 2008, Liberia has never any census. The 2018 the National Population and Housing Census was delay to 2021 March but due to the reoccurrence of the COVID-19, the process was postponed to next year. Until now, the exact date for the conduct of the population census is yet unknown.
The event that was held at LISGIS Head Office on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 brought together government officials, development partner as well as the Ambassador of the Embassy of Sweden Urban Sjostrom.
Samuel Tweah, Minister of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning who launched the 2022 National Population and Housing Census training of trainers on the pre-test activities promised that the government will make sure that adequate funding is available to close the financial gap for a successful 2022 national census.
Minister Tweah disclosed: “The 2022 census disbursement will be done as early in February to ensure that the census is delivered in time.” MFDP boss added: “The government cannot achieve its development without the conduct of the census that will provide the needed data to inform decisions making in terms of development.”
Also speaking, the Swedish Ambassador to Liberia, Urban Sjostrom described the 2022 national census as an important step in combating poverty and ensuring inclusive development.
Ambassador Sjostrom said the census is a strong contribution to improve the knowledge of social democratic and economic characteristic of the country.
Ambassador Sjostrom also calls on the Liberian Government to take ownership of the process and allocate sufficient resources for the implementation of the upcoming census. Adding up, LISGIS’s Director General Francis F. Wreh described the pre-test activities as the key part of a successful census.
LISGIS boss added that data collection for the pre-test will begin earlier November of this year. He calls on the participants of the training to be focus as any error on their part could affect the outcome of the census.
For his part, the census Technical Advisor Ibrahim M. Sesay said results of the census will be released in two months after the actual counting in 2022. According to Sesay, LISGIS has completed over 78 percent of the mapping exercise across the country.
