Stats SL has announced a change of date of the Mid-Term Population and Housing Census. This announcement coincided with the commemoration of the world statistics day on Tuesday 20th October 2020.
Announcing the new date of the Mid-Term census, The Statistician General & CEO/Chief Census Officer, Prof Osman A. Sankoh, said that on 21st July 2020, His Excellency the President, Brigadier (Rtd).Dr. Julius Maada Bio proclaimed the Mid-Term Population and Housing Census to be conducted by Statistics Sierra Leone (Stats SL) with the enumeration to commence on December 4, 2020.
The Statistician General further revealed that Stats SL has been making progress on many fronts in the preparations towards the proclaimed date. However, he said, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the planned support from external institutions, the Movement of high level technical personnel (international consultants) and the procurement of digital materials required for the census have lagged behind a bit. He therefore, announced that due to these unavoidable circumstances, Stats SL is constrained to make adjustments to the timelines for critical activities, including the date of commencement of actual enumeration.
Prof Osman A. Sankoh revealed that the Mid-Term Population and Housing Census slated to be held on the 4th December, 2020 has been rescheduled to 19th April, 2021, adding that HE the President has consented to launch the Mid-Term Population and Housing Census formally on the 4th December, 2020.
The Statistician General assured everyone that, Stats SL remains committed to making the Mid-Term and Housing Census a very inclusive and transparent process so that it can produce credible data and that Stats SL will be updating the public on all developments as they continue to serve the interest of the people of Sierra Leone.
In making a statement,The Deputy Statistician General Stats-SL, Andrew Bob Johnny, explaining about the 2020 World Statistics Day celebration, which occurred on the 20th October said; Sierra Leone joined the world to popularize the day with the Theme “Connecting the world with Data We Can Trust”. He further said that the World Statistics Day coincided with three Global events namely:
- The 75th Anniversary of the United Nations;
- The mid- point in the 2020 World Population and Housing Round of Censuses; and
- The Virtual UN World Data Forum 2020.
The DSG, Andrew Bob Johnny disclosed that the celebration was a global collaborative endeavor, organized under the guidance of the United Nations Statistical Commission for which he wished to inform all Sierra Leoneans that Stats SL Statistician General and CEO is the current Rapporteur.
He said that National Statistics Offices, like ours in Sierra Leone, will celebrate the day with a theme that emphasizes the importance of Trust in Authoritative data Innovation and the public good in national statistical systems.
He said to mark the occasion; they at Stats SL will coordinate activities at National Level and show case how their work has responded to the Data revolution and the demand for innovative solutions to meet the data demands of sustainable development.
The Chairman of Stats Council, Mr Moses Williams gave a brief history of the Institution and said that Stats SL was established in 1964 as an institution that was mandated to coordinate, collect, compile, analyze and disseminate high quality and objective official statistics in order to help the country plan properly, ensure equitable distribution of resources and foster economic and social development.
He added that since then, they had been working tirelessly in achieving their mandate as an institution, adding that as a Council their mandate was to assist the institution in its golden operations.