Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) has ended a day long forum with editors of the Liberian media.
With support from the United Nations Peace building funds, Tuesday, September 20, 2022 ended its second phase of the national stakeholder's engagement conference.
Speaking at the forum, the Acting Director General of LISGIS Wilmot Smith said the meeting is intended to collaborate with every media institution across the country in propagating the information about the entire Census process.
Smith speaking during the meeting said the Liberian Government, through LISGIS with technical support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is ready and prepared to conduct the fifth National Population and Housing Census using digital technology.
The counting process according to him, starts from October 24, 2022 to November 7, 2022 respectively.
The census is a national endeavor; as such, all Liberians should support the process in whatever way necessary possible", he emphasized.
This is a delayed census which should have been done since 2018 because the last time Liberia as a country had census was 2008.
Since the signing of the Census Project document by LISGIS and partners in October 2019, key activities have been completed to set the stage for the actual counting exercise.
"We also conducted a pretest to test all materials, such as tablets, questionnaires, methodology, among others which will be used for the main enumeration process", he added.
The Acting Director General of LISGIS disclosed that the 2022 National Population and Housing Census is the first digital census to be carried out across the Country.
As crucial as the national process is, the census will determine the current demographic, social, economic and cultural characteristics of the population of the country; provide small area data; create sustainability of data collection and analysis in the future through strengthened national capacity with the provision of a new master sampling framework for future surveys; quality maps and geographic information system (GIS).
"It will also make available general development planning, monitoring, and evaluation tools that will help track the progress of Liberia's developmental agenda, including the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).", he noted.
Smith at the same time, stated that the Population and Housing Census is amongst the most complex and massive peacetime exercises a nation can undertake and requires mapping the entire country, mobilizing and training a large number of enumerators, conducting a public advocacy campaign, canvassing all households, compiling vast amounts of data in paper or electronic form, and analyzing and disseminating data.
Ahead of the national process, LISGIS and its partner, the UNFPA have organized a massive publicity campaign which kicks off with a National Stakeholders Engagement Conference on August 26, 2022 and was held at the Monrovia City Hall.
The initiative brought together civil society organizations, political parties, elders and chiefs, council of churches, teacher associations, the Imam Council of Liberia, among others.
He informed the gathering Tuesday that LISGIS and her partner, the UNFPA have organized the forum to update media, editors of radios, Televisions and newspapers including online platforms on the ongoing 2022 National Population and Housing Census Project; and to solicit support in promulgating the enumeration activities and messages and to strengthen media engagement as well as helping to raise awareness about the entire process.
"As Editors, you are uniquely positioned to help create awareness, advocate and support in guiding against negative propaganda and publications about the census.," Wilmot uttered.
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Representing the Ministry of information Cultural Affairs and Tourism at the opening ceremony was the Director of Press at MICAT , Lawrence Fahnbulleh who indicated that the government through the Ministry of Information is taking the census very seriously as such every information concerning the process will be disseminated to the general public appropriately.
Lawrence at the same time called on editors to always contact LISGIS and the Ministry of information in terms of any miss information concerning the Census process in order to avoid conflicting information to the public.
"Government cannot work without the media as such , the ministry is glad in working with media personnel in achieving this goal", he added.
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