With less than two months to go until the first Myanmar census in more than 30 years, the final preparations are in full swing. For this purpose UNFPA officials travelled to Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of Myanmar, to oversee plans and put finishing touches to the launch of the public census campaign, planned for early March on 14 January, 2014.

H.E. U Khin Yi, Minister of Immigration and Population chaired the meeting and said in his opening remark that it was important to “reach out to the Myanmar population and that public inclusion was key in order to raise awareness on the census”. 

The Minister also outlined some of the many travels he had undertaken around the country and the different stakeholders whom he had met with in an effort to inform about the importance of the upcoming census as well as to explain the process of a census, the new census law and the technical and practical aspects of how a census is conducted. 

Dr. Ne Win, UNFPA Assistant Representative raised during the meeting some of the key communications aspects which is going to be part of the official census campaign which is scheduled to kick-off on 01 March, exactly one month prior to the population count begin. Some of the plans include a series of billboards and posters to be placed in strategic locations in all of the 7 states and 7 regions, a national census bus tour featuring Myanmar celebrities, TV and Radio spots, including an official launch event as well as many other activities. 

“The 2014 census is a chance for everyone in Myanmar to have a voice and to be heard, and it will help shape the future for the country as well as push forward the ongoing reform process,” said Dr. Ne Win. 

For the census launch UNFPA has teamed up with Bo Bo Entertainment a Yangon based entertainment and event management agency which will assist with carrying out the country-wide visibility campaign for the Myanmar census. The UNFPA are working closely with the Myanmar government providing with technical, financial, administrative and resource mobilization support for the 2014 census. 

The 2014 census will be the first in over 30 years that a count of the Myanmar population takes places in the Southeast Asian nation. The last census took place in 1983. The census count will take place from Midnight 29th March to 10 April 2014.