UNFPA and the Government of Myanmar agreed in late January on an observation mission after the International Technical Advisory Board (ITAB) approved the Government's census preparation efforts. However, the body recommended that in order to increase the credibility and transparency of the census process the Government of Myanmar should allow for neutral observers to witness and monitor the data collection. The International Technical Advisory Board (ITAB) consists of a group of 15 global experts in the field of statistics, demography and census taking.
Under the UNFPA and Myanmar Government plan on the census, observers will passively document the census process and the way the data is collected. They will also provide regular feedback to the Government during and after the census activities, neutrally observe the census against international standards and the census law to increase the credibility and transparency of the census process. The observers will also document lessons learned and best practices and contribute to building capacity and ensuring the quality of data collection for future censuses.
The observers have been given a rare opportunity to watch and witness what happens within the households of Myanmar's diverse community. We hope that by having a team of 46 international and national observers silently note the enumeration process." said Ms. Janet Jackson, UNFPA Myanmar Representative.
Observers already in Myanmar
The team of international observers consists of members of the International Technical Advisory Board and other census experts whom all have previous experience in data collection and data analysis. The observers participated in a one day workshop held in Yangon on 28 March 2014 where they were given an overview on the main objectives of their monitoring mission such as the importance of the census to the peace and development in Myanmar, the role of a census in any national context and the duties including many other issues relating to the start of the enumeration on Sunday 30th March.
The observers will be divided into pairs of one international and one national monitor. One team of observers will be posted in each of the 15 states and regions. The census exercise will cover 40 districts out of 74 (54%) including 120 townships out of Myanmar's 330 townships (36%). Out of the 80464 Enumeration Areas also known as "EAs" 960 EAs or %1.2 will be covered. Each team will cover 4 EAs a day. For each enumeration interview, the observers must first ask the consent of the enumerator and the main respondent to observe the census enumeration in the household.
Observers are recruited for the time of the monitoring mission, trained on the monitoring tools and allocated to specific regions/states to cover randomly selected several districts and enumeration areas across the country. Both the international as well as national observers are recruited by UNFPA and the National Coordination for observation. National observers include survey and research experts from Myanmar Marketing Research and Development (MMRD) and Myanmar Survey Research (MSR) but also individually hired experts on variety of fields who had previous experience with UN agencies, INGOs and NGOs in conducting or observing surveys.
A widely accepted and accurate census will enable evidence-driven planning and policy making for the first time in Myanmar's history and help push forward its ongoing socio-economic and political reform process. Furthermore, reliable data is a fundamental requirement for a variety of social, economic and political reforms.
