Seoul, Republic of Korea
27 – 29 November, 2012

Preparation for 2014 Population and Housing
Census in Myanmar
Presented by
Khaing Khaing Soe
Myanmar
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 Location : South East Asia
 Area : 677000 Sq/km
 Population : 61 millions
(PRB = 54m, UN = 47m)
 GR : 0.98
 Avg HH size = 5 persons
 TFR : 2.03
 7 States and 7 Regions

O
 Census Process
 Census Methodology
 Status of implementation
 Expected products
 Financial Requirements
 Risks and challenges

Total Population (est..) -
Households (est..)
State/Regions + capital -
-
Districts
Townships
Wards
Village Tracks
Enumeration Areas (est.) -
Supervision Areas (est.) -
-
-
-
-
55 - 60 millions
11 - 12 millions
14 + 1 = 15
69
330
3,044
63,346
100,000
20,000

• the population census is the largest data collection undertaking in a country by a government
• it also provides information on every person, from newly born babies to the oldest person in the country and includes both nationals and nonnationals.
• Myanmar - Since 999 (King Bodaw), surveys
(population count) were conducted
• Under British Administration – 1872,1881-1941
• Nationwide Census – 1973, 1983

The census process involves several components, which can be grouped into four broad stages:
(a) planning, management and preparatory work (2-5-2011 – 29-3-2014) ;
(b) field operations (30-3-2014 - 31-5-2014);
(c) data processing (1-6-2014 - 31-12-2014);
(d) census products and dissemination
(1-1-2015 - 28-2-2015).

 The census will be done on “de facto” basis.
 Implying that everybody within borders of
Myanmar on Census Night will be counted
 Census Night is the Saturday 29 th March 2014,
 The Reference time is 00.00 hrs 30 th March 2014
 Data collection will continue till10 th April
 Method of enumeration is face-to-face interview (canvasser method)

 A Census Project Document is ready
 Detailed explanations of census activities
 Objectives and expected outputs
 Risks and proposed mitigations
 Sustainability
 Timelines
 Budget for the entire census
 Assessments and procedures of census components developed
 Mapping, Publicity, Data processing, Pilot census

• The 1972 Census Law reviewed, already approved by
Attorney General office and President’s office, will be taken to Parliament, so this will be in place in good time
• The Census Office established at DOP, Census Commission and various committees formed at national and subnational levels and three meetings already held
• Study tour to Thailand on experiences of census taking. Six
(6) people visited in April 2012
• Advisers and national consultants hired to support DOP on
Census Project preparation, Mapping/GIS, Data Processing,
Publicity, Questionnaire Design, overall census design and management

• Training for Field Mapping ( 5 types of maps) done for district and Township Immigration staffs
• Maps of Wards, Village tracks and Villages are being drawn and estimated households collected by the Township Immigration officials
• All the topographical maps for the entire country have been produced to provide a base map for preparing geo-spatial database at the headquarter.

 Publicity and Advocacy Strategy plan prepared, the
President of the Union, the Minister of Immigration and
Population, UNFPA Rep, are already doing high level advocacy
 The slogan, logo, jingle song are soon being prepared to start publicity/advocacy within the country
 Resources Mobilization efforts are on going by Govt. and UNFPA

 Draft census questionnaire developed and is now being discussed with data users ( Govt), donors, civil society organizations and approved by Census Commission
 Printing will be done by DRS for OMR scanning
 The Census questionnaire is designed based on the followings:
• Consultations
• National needs in development plans
• UN recommendations
• Questionnaire from the last census in the country
• Census questionnaires from neighboring countries

( 41 questions)

Location/ Institutions/ Type of residence

Demographic Characteristics (Age, sex, rthh)

Migration

Education

Labour Force

Fertility/Mortality

Ownership/ Electricity/ Source of Water

Cooking Fuel/ Toilet/ Household access

Household members abroad

Mortality/ MMR

 Procedures for Pilot census has been prepared
 20 Townships purposively selected for the pilot, one ward or village tract will be done in each township
 5 EAs from each ward/VT, altogether 100 EAs will be included in the pilot.
 Supervisor = 20, Enumerators = 100
 Supervisor training will be in Headquarter and
Enumerators training will be in Yangon and
Mandalay.
 For the institution – Nay Pyi Taw

 Everyone who spends the Census Night (the night between 29 th and 30th th March 2014) within Myanmar’s borders will be counted
 Both Myanmar citizens and foreigners present within Myanmar on the Census Night will be counted (With exception of Foreign Embassy staff based in Myanmar).
 All persons who spend the Census Night in a particular household, whether they are members of that household or not, will be counted in that household.
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 Any person who died after the Census Night (but who was alive on the Census Night)
 Household members who spend the census night in places where they could not be enumerated
(night workers, fishermen, passengers in transit, etc) will be counted in the households where they could have spent the Census Night.
 An attempt will be made to count the Myanmar citizens living abroad including those working in
Myanmar Diplomatic Missions abroad.
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 All people working with the Foreign Embassies &
Consulates based in Myanmar.
 Any person born after the census night even if the child belongs to a Myanmar citizen.
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C ENSUS P RODUCTS
 Provisional results: 3 months after data collection
 Main results: 11 months after data collection
 Thematic reports: gender, demographic characteristics, education, employment, housing, etc.
 Occupation and Industry – second phase

C ENSUS PRODUCTS
 Spatial analysis for planning, development, and democratization
 Improved sampling frame for surveys
 Strengthen institutional and infrastructural capacities
 Raise awareness of the importance of statistics in effective decision making

 The estimated total cost of the census is USD 58.7 million.
 The Government has pledged USD 15 million and
UNFPA USD 5 million; this leaves a budget gap of USD
38.7 million.
 The development partners and private sector are called upon to contribute so that a comprehensive census that follows internationally acceptable guidelines would be conducted in the country.
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 Lack of experience for 30 years
 confusion between the census and a voter registration campaign;
 Ethnic minority
 Various kind of living residence/ institutions
 Urban people work in different places at day time
 difficulties in accessing isolated groups and/or sparsely located population to carry out listing and enumeration;
 unsuitability of the cartography work;
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 problems in retrieval and storage of questionnaires from the field;
 unavailability of well-trained enumerators recruited from different localities and who are conversant in local languages needed for administering the census questionnaire
 ability to conduct the census only in areas controlled by the Government, in case of continuing conflict
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 Population and Housing Censuses are costly undertakings and require proper planning to ensure that the requisite resources are mobilized in time for the Census.
 The successful conduct of the Census would be contingent on the availability of adequate resources for planning and implementing the various activities.
 Meeting the resource requirements of the Census would require concerted efforts of Government in collaboration with development partners, especially
UNFPA.