Representatives from national statistical offices share innovations and lessons learned from the 2020 census round

Representatives of national statistical offices in Latin America and the Caribbean shared innovations and lessons learned from the 2020 round of censuses during a regional seminar that sought to contribute to the planning and preparation of the 2030 round of censuses, enhancing lessons learned and capacities acquired in light of the results and challenges. The seminar was held at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile.

The regional seminar on innovations in the population and housing censuses of the 2020 Round with a view to the 2030 Round, held within the framework of the twenty-third meeting of the Executive Committee of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC, was jointly organized by the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE)-Population Division and the Statistics Division of ECLAC, with the collaboration of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The event was opened by Rolando Ocampo, Director of the Statistics Division of ECLAC; Simone Cecchini, Director of CELADE-Population Division of ECLAC; Sabrina Juran, Regional Technical Advisor of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and José Antonio Mejía, Lead Specialist of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

In his opening speech, Simone Cecchini, Director of CELADE-Population Division of ECLAC, highlighted the technological and conceptual innovations introduced by countries in the 2020 round, such as the massive use of mobile data collection devices, despite the complexity of statistical work, and in particular, of conducting censuses in a pandemic scenario.

“Innovations have strengthened census processes and, in particular, have contributed to carrying out good censuses when they have been accompanied by adequate and timely budgets, suitable management teams and technical teams, and sufficient time to carry out all the tests that these innovations require. We have also seen how planning failures and political pressures on schedules have played against them,” he said.

The Director of CELADE stressed that, in order to better face the new census round 2030, which begins in 2025, countries must capitalize on the lessons learned and strengthen those areas that concern them or in which they had less than satisfactory performance.

“We must take advantage of this seminar to share and learn about positive experiences and the difficulties and areas to be strengthened for the 2030 round. This meeting is the starting point for a deep and comprehensive look at the 2020 round, which is necessary to achieve the desired levels of coverage and quality for the population and housing censuses of the 2030 round,” he said.

Sabrina Juran, UNFPA Regional Technical Advisor, meanwhile, called for a process of honest reflection that can contribute to the preparation of the 2030 round of censuses by capitalizing on recent experience and strengthening joint capacity.

“We recognize the efforts made by national statistical institutes and offices to face the challenges of the 2020 round. It is clear that lessons learned from successful experiences can contribute to improving future census processes, but it must also be equally clear that less successful experiences are also key inputs for improvement,” he said.

José Antonio Mejía, a leading IDB specialist, highlighted that one of the great advantages of Latin America and the Caribbean is the willingness to share good and bad experiences and coordinate efforts at a regional level for horizontal cooperation.

“One of the things that distinguishes this region in terms of census is that it has institutions that are very willing to share, to learn from others and with others. Added to this is the great benefit that the region has from having UNFPA, but with the particularity of having ECLAC and, in particular, CELADE,” he stressed.

The one-day seminar addressed topics such as the outlook for the 2020 population and housing censuses in Latin America and the Caribbean and the main challenges facing the 2030 round, the main challenges for strategic planning and the political-social contexts, the virtues of new technologies in the census data dissemination strategy, and the challenges to advance in the Statistical Population Registries, among others.

The event also included a panel discussion in which authorities discussed census coverage and quality and the different approaches from strategic, operational and communication perspectives.