UNFPA Provides Equipment for Rwanda’s Population and Housing Census

KIGALI, Rwanda — Rwanda’s fourth national census is slated for 2012, but initial work has already started. Detailed maps that enumerators will use to count every household are being prepared, with the help of some of the latest equipment that is being widely used to streamline the complex process.

UNFPA has contributed equipment – including GPS instrumentation, computers, hard drives and printers -- worth $240,000 to National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda for initial activities related to the 2012 Population and Housing Census. The equipment will be used to update existing maps, including boundaries of administrative units in the country and the location of infrastructure.

Preliminary mapping has begun

Fifty cartographers have already been deployed to start the mapping beginning from districts in the northern and southern province, from there, they will reach out to other parts of the country.

“This equipment will assist the government to be able to gather adequate information about Rwandan population dynamics and trends in order to continue to create and manage sound policies to appropriately address both current and future needs,” said Ms. Victoria Akyeampong, Rwanda UNFPA Representative.

The census is a critical planning tool as it assists policymakers plan for the future in terms of schools, clinics and hospitals, roads, urban infrastructure and more. It will help measure fertility, mortality and spatial distribution, so as to predict future demographic trends.

Collecting comprehensive and disaggregated data

“The Population and Housing census is the most obvious source of comprehensive and disaggregated data to the lowest administrative level,” said Ms. Diane Karusisi, Director General of the National Institute of Statistics.
“The 2012 round will provide updated indicators for monitoring Rwanda Vision 2020, Economic and Development Poverty Reduction Strategy and how the country is achieving the international development goals such as MDGs, ICPD-Programme of Action, NEPAD, etc.,” she added. “We very much appreciate this donation and the collaboration between UNFPA and the government of Rwanda.”

UNFPA works in partnership with National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda along with other government institutions, United Nations agencies, development partners and the private sector to raise awareness and mobilize the support and resources needed to conduct the 2012 population and housing census effectively.

The Fund is committed to ensuring that all programme countries receive support to mobilize the funds and the technical capacity they need to complete a population census during the 2010 round (2006-2015). The ‘One Fund’, comprising contributions from UN partners involved in Rwanda’s ‘Delivering as One’ initiative, has also contributed $2.5 million to support the census.

This will be Rwanda’s fourth population census. The first population census was conducted in August 1978, the second in August 1991, followed by the third in August 2002.