Census expert arrives in PNG

Efforts by the National Government to boost the Papua New Guinea Census 2020 preparations have been enhanced with the arrival of a global expert on Census with assistance from lead partner, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

On behalf of the Government, Minister for National Planning, Richard Maru, together with Acting National Statistician, John Igitoi, welcomed Mercedita Tia as the new Census Director for the 2020 Census.

Ms Tia (57) has over 22 years of global experience, having held key positions in censuses conducted in Afghanistan, the Philippines and Vietnam. Specifically, she has worked as a technical specialist for the census at UNFPA, Afghanistan for eight years; as Chief Census Planning and Operations Division for eight years at the Philippines National Statistics Office, and as Statistician for eight years. She also worked as a consultant at the General Statistics Office in Vietnam.

“Given the lessons learned from the last failed census, our Government is determined to deliver a successful Census 2020. Hence, the engagement of global leading experts like Mercedita Tia to assist us plan and execute a successful census, including deploying technical solutions like remote sensing, which is critical to help us complete Census 2020,” Minister Maru said.

“Apart from global experts, we are also working with development partners to assist us with technology and funding to deliver the census, like the Australian government and other partners. I am confident that with the Census Director’s global expertise, we can deliver a successful 2020 Census for Papua New Guinea.”

The Population and Housing Censuses are conducted in compliance with set standards and in accordance with the UN’s Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses. PNG as member of the United Nation conforms to these UN standards.

The Census 2020 will be launched by the Prime Minister on the evening of Saturday 3rd August, 2019.

(From left: Acting National Statistician, John Igitoi, Minister for National Planning, Richard Maru and new census director, Mercedita Tia)

Author: 
Press release