Vanuatu’s National Statistics Office receives VT100 million from the Vanuatu Government for the national population and housing census that will happen in November.

The Coordinator for the 2020 National Population and Housing Census, Jimmy Tamkela, says the data collected during this national census will help the Government to make developments or respond better to the people after a natural disaster.

He says plans for the national census have begun.

“I want to thank the European Union through the EDF11 program that can come in to provide VT50 million, for the census to support its publicity and the Information Communication and Technology equipments, that will be used during the census,” Mr Tamkela said.

“And the United Nations Population Fund for VT10 million to help us trial out the census questionnaires. But the large support came from the Vanuatu Government and that shows that the Government really wants the census to happen to support its future planning.”

Charlinton Leo, the Social and Environment Manager at the Statistics Office, says it is important for the people to work together with the statistics team when they come around in their areas in November.

He says they have recruited 950 enumerators who will be working in this national census. Within this number there will be 750 of them who will be interviewers who will go out in the fields to do the interviews.

“And we will have 150 field supervisors who will supervise the field workers. And there will be 50 headquarter supervisors who will base in Port Vila,” Mr Leo said.

He says there are three different levels of enumeration field work that the field interviewers will be doing to help with the questionnaire checks.