Ashgabat, 12 July 2010 – The United Nations System in Turkmenistan has provided advisory support on population and housing census methodology and overall management issues to 20 representatives from the State Statistics Committee of Turkmenistan. The five-day workshop has been facilitated by the International Consultants from Russia Liudmila Eroshina and Galina Shcherbakova in framework of the Joint Programme “Support in Conducting the National Census and Further Analysis and Management of Data for Reporting on MDG’s and National Programmes” implemented by UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and UNHCR in Turkmenistan.

During the workshop the key staff of the State Statistics Committee and its regional branches thoroughly discussed methodological aspects of the census and their alignment with international standards and national specifics. The census questionnaires and procedures of their completion as well as instructions on the procedures of census were reviewed in order to ensure the correct enumeration of the population and relevant controlling activities.  

The workshop participants were briefed on the basic principles of development of imprint tables and technology of computerized processing of census data. They also discussed organizational issues of population and housing census and stressed the importance of proper communication and interactions at the regional levels. The Deputy Head of the State Statistics Committee, Ms. L.D. Amanniyazova particularly emphasized the need to use modern optical readout unit for the census.
 

“Census is a large-scale activity, which lasts for less than two weeks and covers population and housing of the whole country. It means that we must be meticulously organized and follow international standards and the best practices. In this regard, the advisory support provided to us is a great resource that can assist in strengthening the local capacity in preparation for the upcoming census,” Mr. Esen Artykov, Census focal point of Turkmenistan’s State Statistics Committee said.

Under the new United Nations Development Assistance Framework for 2010-2015, the United Nations system in Turkmenistan will continue to provide technical expertise to the national partners on strengthening their capacity to conduct the Census according to international standards. The Census data will be further analyzed and used by the Government to report on the progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and national goals. 

For additional information please contact:
Ms. Irina Dedova, Census Project Manager, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it