By: Mohamed Sahr
Statistics Sierra Leone officially welcomed the Chief Technical Adviser for the conduct of the 2025 Decennial Population and Housing Census through the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) during a presentation ceremony on Friday, December 23rd, 2024, at Statistics’ office in Freetown.
Andrew Bob Johnny, Statistician General, and Chief Census Officer said the significance of the 2025 Population and Housing Census is hinged on the proclamation made by His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio for Sierra Leone to have data on all living persons within different households. He added that the proclamation serves as a critical element in conducting the 2025 census.
He mentioned that Statistics Sierra Leone is responsible for supervising and ensuring that the mandate is being fulfilled with support from international partners, especially UNFPA.
Mr. Bob Johnny said the Government of Sierra Leone, through the Ministry of Finance, has presented the resource with a budget of 37 million dollars for the running of the entire census. He mentioned that with full support from the government, partners, and the CTA, Statistics Sierra Leone is prepared and determined to undertake a successful 2025 Population and Housing Census.
The Chief Census disclosed that Statistics Sierra Leone had made several progresses, including establishing a well-structured Census Secretariat, holding closed-door meetings with the government and other relevant stakeholders, and inaugurating the Census Advisory, Technical, and Publicity Committees.
Nadia Rasheed, UNFPA Country Representative, underscored the complexity of a census as a national data-producing exercise. She registered UNFPA’s strong commitment to providing technical and other needed support to Stats SL for the conduct of an inclusive and ground-breaking 2025 census.
Madam Rasheed also noted an upcoming Census Assessment Team, which will be charged with designing a clear and results-driven road map to guide the entire census process.
Edouard Talnan, Consultant and Chief Technical Adviser for the 2025 Population and Housing Census, realized the complex nature of every census, which is the most challenging data collection exercise every country can undertake.
He stated that the establishment of the legal and institutional framework is the foundation of the census, adding that there is no census without a legal framework that governs the whole process. Mr. Talnan announced that many countries within the subregion have completed their census due to a similar foundation established in Sierra Leone.
He expressed his commitment to working with Statistics Sierra Leone staff to provide technical assistance so that the country could be compared to other countries.
The Chief Technical Adviser is vastly experienced in censuses and data-related processes. Before coming to Sierra Leone, the CTA had overseen the recently concluded Liberian Census and many other censuses across Africa.