Iraq: Applying international standards in the census coordinated with the UN

INA - KARBALA

The Ministry of Planning confirmed on Tuesday that Iraq will apply international standards in the general census in coordination with the United Nations, noting that there is an international advisory committee following up on the implementation of international standards.

"There is an international advisory committee formed by the United Nations Population Fund, which includes an elite group of senior statistics and census experts, whose mission is to follow up on the quality of work and ensure the application of international standards in conducting the general population census," said the spokesman for the Ministry, Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi, to the Iraqi News Agency - INA.

Al-Hindawi pointed out that "there is high-level coordination between the Ministry of Planning, represented by the General Authority for Statistics and Geographic Information Systems, and the United Nations Population Fund, regarding conducting the population census, as it is the organization affiliated with the United Nations that is concerned with following up on the population census worldwide and applying international standards in this regard." 

A special committee has been formed to coordinate with the United Nations Population Fund. It included a group of Iraqi experts specializing in the field of population census, "to follow up on the control of data and procedures related to the general population census."

He stressed that "there is an application and commitment to international standards by Iraq, and that it is ready to conduct the census on its scheduled date next Wednesday and Thursday."