United Nations Expert Group Meeting on
Contemporary Practices in Census Mapping and Use
of Geographical Information Systems
29 May – 1 June 2007
United Nations, New York
Mapping Census Infrastructure in Pacific Islands:
Institutional and Capacity Building Issues
Scott Pontifex
Statistics and Demography/Population Programme
Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Pacific Islands region
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Three main sub-areas of Micronesia, Melanesia Polynesia.
22 member countries (15) and. territories (7)
9,1 million people over 34 million square kilometers of
ocean
CNMI
Guam
Palau
Marshall Islands
Federated States
of Micronesia
Papua New
Guinea
Nauru
Kiribati
Solomon
Islands
Tuvalu
Tokelau
Cook
Wallis et Samoa
Islands
Futuna
Am
Fiji
Samoa
Vanuatu
New
Caledonia
Niue
French
Polynesia
Tonga
Pitcairn
Islands
Population and Housing Censuses, 2010 round
2005
2006
2007
Kiribati
Palau
Cook Islands
Niue
Samoa
Tokelau
Tonga
Fiji
2008
2009
2010
Marshall Islands
Solomon Islands
Vanuatu
Am. Samoa
CNMI
FSM
Guam
Kiribati
Palau
PNG
CNMI
Guam
Palau
2011
Cook Islands
Niue
Samoa
Tokelau
2012
Nauru
Tuvalu
Marshall Islands
Federated States
of Micronesia
Papua New
Guinea
Nauru
Kiribati
Solomon
Islands
Tuvalu
Tokelau
Cook
Wallis et Samoa
Islands
Futuna
Am
Fiji
Samoa
Vanuatu
New
Caledonia
Niue
French
Polynesia
Tonga
Pitcairn
Islands
Context: 2000 round of census
• Many Islands experienced difficulties financing their census
operations in 2000 round.
• Other resource constraints such as skill shortages and limited
external technical assistance lead to short cuts being made
which affected quality of coverage and census outputs.
• Many countries (particularly small island states) had to start
from scratch (in terms of trained personnel) and conduct the
census with staff that had no previous census experience.
• The main problem is retaining experienced and trained
personnel after census the operation.
Financial constraints
Lack of funds
Census and census mapping is an expensive exercise.
Many island countries experienced some difficulties in financing their census
operations during the last census (2000) round.
Technical assistance
Limited external technical assistance was available.
Priority in budget allocation
Another problem is that governments do not always give census a priority which
results in PICs relying on donor support to adequately fund census activities
Budgets from selected PIC Censuses (2010 Round)
Census date
Census budget
$US
Govt contribution $US
Donor request
$US
% of donor funds
Kiribati
2005 (Nov)
316,500
192,000
124,500
39
Samoa
2006 (Nov)
342,800
177,800
165,000
48
Tonga
2006 (Nov)
311,000
101,000
210,000
68
Human resources
Lack of skilled personel and loss of experienced staff
– Several NSO are understaffed
– Experience staff turnover
– If there is continuous change of staff it impacts on the sustainability of
census activities.
Where do staff go?
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–
–
–
–
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Other government agencies (associated with higher prestige)
Better pay or career advancement
Private sector
Overseas migration
Training overseas (study leave)
Voluntary redundancy due to political reform
Human resources –How do NSO retain staff?
1.
Implement NSO staffing structure parity with that of
other Government departments.
E.g.- Government Statistician at same level (and pay) as Director of
Planning Agency (otherwise people move)
2.
Set up career structure, which is conducive to people
staying
This allows people to see a professional future in the organization
Greater need to recognize long-term benefits of developing new staff
Provide ongoing training and the possibility of study leave (to promote
professional development)
3.
Give staff greater responsibility and meaningful tasks
Greater delegation of responsibility to younger staff is needed to
provide them with variety of work and an environment to show their
skills, take on challenges
PICT National Statistics Office staff numbers
Country
Staff
Country
Staff
Country
Staff
American
Samoa
7
Marshall
Islands
7
Samoa
27
Cook
Islands
10
Nauru
3
Solomon
Islands
22
FSM
19
New
Caledonia
41
Tokelau
1
Fiji
80
Niue
3
Tonga
25
French
Polynesia
n.a.
Northern
Marianas
6
Tuvalu
5
Guam
16
Palau
5
Vanuatu
14
Kiribati
8
PNG
140
Wallis and
Futuna
8
Census mapping in the Pacific:
• Pre census mapping is usually done late in the planning phase
of the census cycle (often ad-hoc and too late).
• Most censuses in the past were planned and collected without
a clear GIS capability in mind and lack of geographic
identifiers.
• Traditionally census mapping is given low priority by most
NSOs with several PICs lacking automated mapping systems
• The most common use of GIS is the use of thematic maps to
disseminate and communicate their census data (post census).
• Collaboration with other government agencies has been
challenging
Solomon Islands 2 April Tsunami
No digital maps used in EA definition
Blacksands 835
Port Vila, Vanuatu
Blacksands (peri-Urban) Enumeration Area
In the 1999 Census this area was enumerated with
: 943 Households
: 4818 Population
(cont)
Port Vila, Vanuatu
Freshwota (peri-Urban) EA 840
In the 1999 Census this area had
: 492 Households
: 2715 Total Population
1999
2005
GIS for data dissemination and utilization
• There was a need to simplify population data, and to make these
data more accessible at levels of geography below simply national
levels.
• The SPC developed a customized software (Population GIS) for
statisticians and planners, to improve the effectiveness of census
(and other socio-economic) data dissemination and utilization
• So far 8 national systems have been developed covering the
Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon
Islands, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands and Wallis et Futuna
Two distinct groups of intended users
• The producers of data and statistics (NSO)
• The main users of this data (Planning)
Satellite Imagery and GPS
Case : Republic of the Marshall Islands
• 2006 the Economic Policy, Planning and Statistics Office conducted
socio-economic Community Survey on six Atolls to investigate basic
living conditions and economic situation.
• Used small hand held mobile Global Positioning System (GPS) units
and high resolution satellite imagery
• The team surveyed 1,205 households across 6 Atolls with data
collected on 9,491 individuals (roughly 20% of the estimated
population of the RMI.
Majuro Survey Team being trained in GPS
Case : Republic of the Marshall Islands
Pre Survey Mapping
Case : Republic of the Marshall Islands
Data Collection
Survey map provided to Ebeye
Survey Team
GPS coordinates, and selected
households
Case : Republic of the Marshall Islands
Post Survey mapping
Children living adjacent to the
current public dump in Majuro.
Conclusion
• Censuses and surveys need to be planned and collected with a
clear GIS capability in mind.
• Census mapping needs to be properly planned and resourced and
given higher priority by Pacific Island NSOs and become an ongoing
process.
• While adoption of GIS in the Pacific has been sluggish. A growing
local and regional capacity is being established in the region
through the use of technology and long term training attachments
• Wider collaboration within countries, innovative solutions and a
coordinated regional approach is needed for sustainable utilization
of GIS for census mapping in the Pacific Islands
• Tank yu tumas Meataki ma’ata Malo
aupito Ko raba Thank you Vinaka
vakalevu Tangio tumas Sulang
Faafetai tele lava Merci