Baghdad The United Nations Population Fund in Iraq clarified today, Thursday, the latest developments in the census file in Iraq, and while confirming that great government efforts have been made to conduct it on time in 2023, it indicated that its implementation will be done electronically and depends on providing financial allocations in the 2023 budget.
“The preparations for the implementation of the population census began in 2019, as it was hoped that it would be implemented in 2020, but the Corona pandemic caused it to be postponed,” said Mahdi Al-Alaq, the Fund’s Chief Advisor, to the official News Agency.
He added, “The Central Statistical Organization and the Ministry of Planning are making great efforts to adhere to the new date in 2023,” explaining, “This issue is related to preparing an adequate budget, and with the launch of the new government and the new budget for 2023, appropriate allocations may be available for the purposes of implementing the general population census.”
He stressed that “the United Nations Population Fund is one of the sponsors of this large project, and we hope that it will be achieved on time,” explaining that “the budget for the general population census planned by the Central Statistical Organization is about $120 million, and there are some aspects of disbursement that took place during the past years, but still limited.
He explained that “the largest budget will be for technical means, because the census will move from the paper method to the tablet method, as well as data centers and means of communication will be via the Internet,” pointing out that “these requirements must be secured before proceeding with the implementation of the general population census.”
Source: National Iraqi News Agency