Zim needs US$85mln for 2022 census – Officials

Harare, (New Ziana) – Zimbabwe requires US$85.5 million to undertake the 2022 national population and housing census, officials said on Monday.

Zimbabwe has since independence in 1980 held population censuses every 10 years beginning in 1982. At the last official count in 2012, the population was estimated at 13.1 million.

Officials from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) say estimates indicate the population will be around 17.1 million in the next two years.

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube said government was expected to meet the bulk of the US$85.5 million budget, but welcomed donor financial support for the exercise.

“The long term objectives of the 2022 population and housing census are to improve on knowledge on the social, demographic and economic characteristics of the population of Zimbabwe in order to enable the formulation and implementation of viable national development strategies and arrive at a better understanding of population and development inter-relationships in order to formulate coherent social economic development programmes based on recent crucial human development indicators,” he told development partners at a resource mobilisation meeting.

The census will be carried out by Zimstat with support from the United Nations Population Fund Zimbabwe (UNFPA) and other development partners.

UNFPA’s population and development specialist, Piason Mlambo said government was expected to provide 83 percent of the census budget while development partners, under the coordination of the UN agency, are expected to chip in with at least US$14.8 million.

“UNFPA is expected to manage the donor fund pool,” he said, appealing for support.

In the last census, development partners contributed US$12.6 million, which was about 30 percent of the budget.

Nearly $22 million of the 2022 census budget is required to acquire gadgets such as tablets which will be used for data capturing.

Use of latest technologies is expected to quicken production of census data, a process that used to take at least three years in the past.

With field mapping for the census having commenced late last year, Zimstat said it was facing three major challenges relating to vehicle and fuel shortages as well as lack of funding to acquire satellite images required for urban areas.

UNPFA Country Representative, Esther Muia (pictured)said the census was key for Zimbabwe to move ahead with its development agenda and critically for planning, monitoring and assessment of progress in emergency and humanitarian situations.

“It is very important that we provide current information, both demographic and related social economic characteristics of the population both at national and sub-national levels,” she said.

“It’s not just to know how many people there are, it has implications for both political and social economic movement in the country.”

She lauded development partners who have continued to fund UNFPA projects in Zimbabwe, while urging them to avail support for the current census exercise.
New Ziana