UN Consultant: Data and tables that are unrelated to individual characteristics are used to present census results

INA-  BAGHDAD


The consultant of the United Nations Population Fund in Iraq, Mahdi Al-Alaq, confirmed on Friday that the census results are issued in the form of data and tables that are not related to individual characteristics.

 Al-Alaq said in a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "The last census was carried out in Iraq as it is known in 1997, and this census did not include the provinces of the Kurdistan region, and if we talk methodologically, the last census carried out is the year 87, meaning that we have not provided a detailed database since 1987 and for more than 30 years."

He added that "the advantage of the census that is currently carried out in Iraq is that it is not only for the population, but it is a general census of the population, housing, buildings and facilities," noting that "all modern frameworks for economic, industrial, agricultural, and service activities are available through the results of the assessments and inventory processes that preceded the counting process, but if we return to the main benefit from population databases, it certainly represents a historical opportunity because the details of the data according to the age distribution of the population."  
 
Al-Alaq explained that "this is a fundamental issue and cannot be provided through estimates, but through detailed results of the general census of the population at the level of the smallest administrative formations, and all planning processes to address the housing deficit are based on the results of the general census of the population," noting that "some areas do not suffer from a major housing crisis unlike other regions, and therefore these indicators cannot be provided without the results of the census, and the number of housing in detail."
 
 Al-Alaq stressed that "the census does not provide direct data on poverty, because it does not collect data on income, but there are specialized surveys that objectively reach poverty rates at the level of Iraq and at the provincial level."
He added "the census data or what is issued by the census is not official documents, meaning there is no official document entitled the general census document, but that the data of individuals is confidential data and is not given to any party, whether governmental or non-governmental.
 
Al-Alaq continued: "In the year 57, the census was affiliated with the General Population Directorate in the Ministry of Interior, and it resulted in the issuance of the identity of the civil status, and what was previously called the soul book, but after the competencies of the census were transferred to the Ministry of Planning of the Central Agency and Statistics, this link between granting identities and the general census of the population separated."