KAMPALA – The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) on Monday received over twenty computers and accessories worth USD43,000 (UGX 157 million) from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Uganda ahead of the National Housing and Population Census 2023.
The equipment included 10 Desktop computers for large dataset processing and 10 Desktop computers for GIS Mapping.
Appropriate in supporting georeferenced data and analysis of large data sets, the equipment was handed to the UBOS Executive Director Dr. Chris Mukiza by UNFPA Uganda Representative Dr. Mary Otieno at the UFPA Uganda head offices in Kololo.
Gazetted for the night of August 24/25, the census will be the 6th post-independence and the first digital census conducted in Uganda. The exercise will take 10 days up to 3 September 2023
Dr. Otieno said UNFPA has always provided and will continue to provide support, and assist government address the financial and technical barriers to the successful implementation of the Census exercise.
“UNFPA’s mandate on data and evidence generation is to strengthen national capacities to ensure that population and housing censuses are of high quality in terms of generation, analysis, dissemination and utilization of the data and undertaken in a timely manner, relevant, and disaggregated according to international principles and standards. In collaboration with the office of the UN Country Team will continue to support UBOS to ensure a successful and credible census in Uganda,” Dr. Otieno said.
She noted that there is a growing demand for disaggregated data at all levels while ensuring that no one is left behind.
Uganda is in the third year of implementing the third national development plan, aligned to the Uganda vision 2014 with the aspiration of becoming a middle-income country.
Dr. Otieno says this can only be possible after establishing the current population size, distribution and composition to address any existing inequalities, especially identifying the percentage population in the subsistence economy.
“Accurate and timely data is important now more than ever. The unique advantage of the census is that it represents the entire statistical requirements down to the smallest geographical and administrative area of the country. This information is needed for evidence-based decision-making in a variety of settings, including in the design, and monitoring of policies and programs including the parish development model and preparations for the national development plan for harnessing Uganda’s demographic dividend.”
Uganda has also developed a demographic dividend roadmap to ensure investments in young people are consolidated in a multi-sectoral manner. Dr. Otieno says the census will provide needed data on Uganda’s population structure to measure the progress made and to influence subsequent planning and decision-making geared at socio-economic transformation.
“More important now than ever, accurate and timely information is also critical for planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the Parish Development Model and guide preparations for the National Development P Plan IV,” Dr Otieno said
UBOS boss, Dr. Mukiza commended UNFPA for the collaboration in ensuring the success of citizens.
He said a Census exercise is among the most complex and massive undertakings that no country can undertake without support.
He said the Census exercise is estimated to cost Shs373 billion to which the government has committed Shs339 billion.
“This exercise involves mapping the entire country, mobilizing and training a large number of enumerators, conducting public advocacy campaign, canvassing all households, compiling vast amounts of data, electronic form, and analyzing and disseminating data. Partnering with other stakeholders including development partners, private sector is, therefore, critical,” Dr. Mukiza said.
“Once undertaken (census) very well, we shall understand their (population) demographic, social and economic characteristics. We shall also understand their housing conditions.”
A population and housing census is an enumeration of the total population of a country which provides data on numbers of people, their spatial distribution, age and sex structure, their living conditions and other key socioeconomic characteristics. Such data are critical to national and sub-national development planning, tracking progress for the countries development based on indicators that can be tracked to the lowest level. The last NPHC was undertaken in August /September 2014. The total population of Uganda recorded then was 34 6 million persons, representing an increase of 10.4 million persons from the 2002 census
Uganda’s population is today estimated at 45 million.
