Country Practices on Strategy,
Products and Tools for the
Dissemination of Census Results
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Questionnaire Used
 22 questions covering
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Dissemination strategy
Census products and services
Technological tools
Geographic information systems
Data accessibility and copyright
Data confidentiality
Outreach
Metadata and documentation
Challenges
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Objectives of the questionnaire
 To better understand census dissemination practices at
the country level
 To facilitate the sharing of experiences on census
dissemination across countries
Total of 13 respondents
Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian
Territory, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Dissemination Strategy
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Dissemination strategy
 All 13 countries have written dissemination
strategy/plan
 10 countries have developed a dissemination
schedule
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Only Mauritania, Syria and Yemen have not yet done so
 Of 10 countries, dissemination schedule:
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Published (3): Jordan, Occupied Palestinian Territory and Saudi
Arabia
For internal use (4): Algeria, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia
Not indicated whether published or not (3): Egypt, Iraq, Sudan
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Dissemination Strategy – Consultations with users
 11 countries had or plan to consult with data users
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Only Mauritania and Yemen have not
 Purpose of consultations
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inform about possible statistics and indicators
establish users’ data needs
agree on topics and content of questionnaire
maximize use of census as source of data
maximize utilization of census results
monitor use of previous census
discuss how to interpret census results
discuss plans for dissemination of census results
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Dissemination Strategy – Consultations with users (contd.)
 Types of users consulted
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Government ministries
Researchers
Associations
Trade unions
Press
Academia
Private sector
Policy makers
International organizations
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Dissemination Strategy – User Satisfaction Surveys
 On undertaking of user satisfaction surveys
 Yes: 4
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Egypt
Jordan
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Oman
 No: 9
 Algeria, Iraq, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan,
Syria, Tunisia, Yemen
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Census Products and Services
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Census Products and Services - Products
 Commonly cited products
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Press releases (11)
Preliminary results reports (13)
Final results reports (12)
Analytical and thematic reports (11)
 Other products and services
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Query-able databases (8)
Census atlas/thematic maps (8)
Administrative/methodological reports (7)
Customized data (7)
Micro-data (4)
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Products and services – Press Releases
 Yes: 11 respondents
 Format
 Website (6): Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco,
Occupied Palestinian Territory, Oman
 Paper (6): Algeria, Jordan, Morocco,
Occupied Palestinian Territory, Oman,
Tunisia
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Products and services – Preliminary Results
 Yes: 13 respondents
 Format
 Hardcopy: 9 respondents
 CD-ROM: 3 respondents
 Web site: 6 respondents
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Products and services – Final Results
 Yes: 12 respondents
 Format: Hardcopy, electronic files,
websites
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Products and services – Others
 Query-able databases
 8 respondents: Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Oman, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia
 Census Atlas/Thematic maps
 8 respondents: mostly on the web, print or CDROM
format
 Analytical and thematic reports
 11 respondents, mostly in print and on the web
 Administrative/Methodological reports
 7 respondents
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Products and services – Customized requests
 Provided by 10 countries: Algeria,
Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Oman, Saudi
Arabia, Tunisia, Yemen
 5 Respondents charge a fee: Egypt,
Jordan, Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Sudan, Yemen
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Development of new products and services
compared to previous census
Support customized queries using the Internet
Use the Internet
On-line dissemination of the census results
Electronic dissemination
Developed CensusInfo
Use of GIS for spatial data publication
Integration of new technologies in the census, e.g.,
automatic reading of documents
 E-publications
 Plan to use the website extensively and to make the data
readily available to support different types of users
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United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Length of Time to Publication of Results
 Preliminary results
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Less than 1 month (4): Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Oman
1-3 months (5): Algeria, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian
Territory, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia
More than 3 months (4): Mauritania, Sudan, Syria, Yemen
 Final results
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Less than 1 year (6): Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Oman, Tunisia
1 year (2): Saudi Arabia, Syria
More than 1 year (5): Algeria (17 months); Jordan,
Mauritania, Sudan, Yemen (2 years)
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Technological Tools
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Technological Tools used for Dissemination
 CD-ROM/DVD: 12 countries
 Static HTML pages: 13 countries
 Online databases: 7 countries
 GIS web based mapping: 8 countries
 Interactive tools for mapping, tabulating, analyzing
and presenting data in visual formats, e.g., maps: 7
countries
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Geographic Information Systems
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
GIS Infrastructure
 Have GIS infrastructure: 11
 Use ESRI products (ARCVIEW, ARCGIS, etc) – 5:
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Egypt, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Oman, Saudi
Arabia
 Others
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Algeria – project is being implemented
Iraq - CSO has established a specialized center for GIS for
census
Jordan – intends to use GIS in 2014 census
Sudan – GIS for dissemination and analysis
Tunisia – GIS includes administrative boundaries, geographical
units of statistics and some census indicators
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
GIS Infrastructure (contd.)
 NSO has in-house capacity for managing GIS
system: 9 countries (Algeria, Egypt, Iraq,
Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan,
Syria, Tunisia, Yemen)
 Percentage of EAs digitized
 Less than 50% - Egypt
 50-99% - Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Sudan, Tunisia
 100% - Iraq, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia,
Syria, Yemen
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Use of GIS in Census Activities
 Pre-enumeration stage - 10 countries
 Enumeration stage
- 8 countries
 Dissemination
- 8 countries
 Disseminate geo-referenced data – 9
countries: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan,
Tunisia
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Data Accessibility and Copyright
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Accessibility - Copyright
 Copyright policy (8): Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco,
Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen
 Policies:
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Users free to use data as long as data is attributed to NSO:
Egypt, Tunisia
Information from NSO should not be sold by users - Egypt
Law governing copyright - Morocco
Publish only after approval of NSO – Iraq, Syria
MoU with ministries, NGOs, universities – Occupied
Palestinian Territory
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Data Confidentiality
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Confidentiality Measures
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Access by external users to individual data files forbidden by law
Statistical laws on data confidentiality
Login procedures for subscribers - "user name - pass word"
Only authorized persons have access to data
Using clustering technique for back-ups
Disabling data entry terminals’ USB and CD-Rom ports
Use of protected special network
Census data provided only with prior permission of NSO
Anonymizing records by:
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Deleting personal data
Aggregating to higher geographical levels
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Grouping of selected variables
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Outreach
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Outreach – Statistical Literacy of Public
 Use of other events to talk about census: Algeria
 Statistical data awareness campaign: Jordan
 Media campaign: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Mauritania,
Oman, Syria, Yemen
 Joint studies with academics: Syria
 Workshops/Seminars: Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan
 Newsletters: Saudi Arabia
 User-producer dialogue: Occupied Palestinian Territory
 Use of metadata: Tunisia
 Publish methodologies: Tunisia
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Outreach – Media Guidance on Use of Data
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Workshops/seminars for media
Scheduled meetings
Press releases
Short films, audio and video advertisements
User guides on NSO website
Interviews, news paper articles and posters
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Use of Mobile Technology and Social Media
 Yes (4):
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Egypt (handheld devices, Facebook)
Iraq (Facebook)
Jordan (sms)
Saudi Arabia (Facebook, Twitter)
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Metadata and Documentation
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Metadata Provided with Census Data Products
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Concepts, definitions, classifications – 13
Census questions – 11
Census methods (field work, enumeration methods, etc) – 13
Data quality, e.g., coverage rate, non-response – 5
Sampling design – 8
 Products in which metadata disseminated
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Census publications/reports – 12
CD-Rom/DVD with census results – 8
On-line databases – 5
Methodological reports - 8
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Challenges
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Challenges in the Dissemination of Data
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Meeting user demands – Algeria
Lack of training – Iraq
Making census data accessible to public – Iraq
Lack of technological development – Iraq, Mauritania
Political situation – Occupied Palestinian Territory
Comparing census data with other sources – Oman
Use of new techniques - Syria
Quick dissemination of census data – Tunisia
Identifying data needs for private sector – Yemen
Promoting data use in low literacy society – Yemen
Updating of website with necessary data and expanding
communication with data users - Yemen
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011
Thank you
United Nations Regional Seminar on Census Data Dissemination and Spatial Analysis for Arabic Speaking
Countries, Amman, Jordan, 16-19 May 2011