The ITAB offers advice to the Government of Myanmar and UNFPA on a range of technical, logistical and administrative issues and provides advice on the census process to ensure that it follows international guidelines, so that the census in Myanmar is credible.
Representatives from the Ministry for Immigration and Population, the Department of Population, UNFPA and census experts from around the world will discuss key issues during a two day meeting in Myanmar. There will be a review of the data analysis process, currently taking place at the Census Office, Department of Population, in Nay Pyi Daw. ITAB members will visit the centre to see each stage of the data processing cycle from storage of the 11 million questionnaires, which were returned to the Census Office, through to preparation, registration and scanning of the questionnaires. They will also see where the Enumeration Area Summary Sheets, a record of the number of men and women who were present in a household at the exact time the census was conducted, were manually entered and the character inspection and key correction areas.
One key issue that members will discuss is possible ways to respond to the under-coverage of households in the Rakhine and Kachin States. In Rakhine, areas occupied by specific Muslim populations, were not counted in the census following the Government’s decision to refuse to allow them to self-identify as Rohingya. Populations were left out or only partially enumerated in a number of non-state controlled areas of Kachin.
Members will also discuss the Observation Mission Report. The Ministry of Immigration and Population, to support transparency efforts on data collection for the census, invited an Independent Census Observation Mission to Myanmar. The Mission comprised 47 experienced observers, 23 international and 24 Myanmar nationals. These teams of experts were composed of statisticians, census experts, demographers and social scientists. They are currently in the process of finalising their report that will be available, together with a summary of key findings, on both the Department of Population and UNFPAs’ websites.
As the time grows closer for the release of the preliminary results, members will discuss how to address possible conflict sensitive issues that may arise to avoid disruption of the peace and development process in Myanmar.
