Press Release
ECE/STAT/00/2

                                                       Geneva, 7 April
2000

        Population censuses in countries with economies in transition:

                            a test for democracy

                     An appeal launched by the UN/ECE

    Today, the United States is in the midst of conducting its 2000
population and housing
    census. Other major industrialised countries will take their census
later this year or
    sometime next year. However, many countries in Eastern Europe and
Central Asia
    whose economies are in transition have had to postpone their census
largely because
    they do not have sufficient funds to finance it.

    "Without a Census, all references to macro-economic aggregates, such
as GDP, or per
    capita GDP, saving, inflation, employment, indebtedness, poverty,
etc. are going to be
    affected by undercounting or overestimation of population
aggregates, thereby
    undermining the quality and credibility of policy and business
decisions," says
    Mr. Paolo Garonna, Director of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe
    (UN/ECE) Statistical Division. "I would therefore like to launch an
appeal to all
    interested parties at the national and international level to
support in all possible ways
    the conduct of the census in countries in transition."

    "Censuses confront governments and the public, not only with funding
and technical
    problems, censuses are also tests for democracy", adds Mr. Garonna.
In the past, be it
    in the United States or in Europe, there have been cases where
censuses were used for
    political reasons: to track down citizens of Japanese origin or Jews
during the war. In
    the past, in most centrally planned economy countries censuses were
also used for
    political reasons. In many countries, there is therefore a fear
among the public that
    these data might be used against people. "The major problem is of
ethical nature.
    Countries in transition need to adopt strict standards of integrity
and statistical
    confidentiality, which was not always the case in the past," says
Mr. Garonna.

    Even if funds would be available the task would not be an easy one,
as the situation in
    countries whose economies are in transition is very different from
the one encountered
    in most developed market economies. If there is a register in these
countries, it is often
    outdated and unreliable. Moreover, these countries have had scarce
experience in
    developing integrated statistical systems, based on effective
interaction between
    central and local authorities. They lack experience in the
relationship between the
    administrative and the statistical use of public information, in the
use of sampling
    frames, in the public dissemination of statistics and the adoption
of modern techniques
    of data collection and data processing.

    Many of the countries in transition have had dramatic changes in
their population in
    recent years due to internal and international migration, and
changes in fertility and
    mortality. There is therefore a need to build a modern public
administration with
    advanced standards of statistical capacity and integrity; a need to
rebuild the public
    confidence in statistics, as part of their social capital of trust
in democratic and
    accountable institutions and a need to understand the social
cultural and ethnic
    compositions of local and national populations as a contribution to
tolerance and
    social cohesion. "It has, however, to be noted" stresses Mr.
Garonna, "that some
    governments are afraid, for political reasons to measure the ethnic
composition of
    their population." But in all cases all governments have a pressing
need to launch or
    review the major social and household surveys, like the labour force
survey or the
    household budget survey, which provide the basis for strengthening
their national
    accounts, the measurement of inflation and government finance.

    While international funding can undoubtedly be of help, it must be
recognised that the
    bulk of financial support for the census must be provided by
national sources, as it is
    the country itself, which is the primary beneficiary of the census
data. "However, an
    international framework can be particularly important for ensuring
the contribution of
    Censuses to statistical capacity building and to the reform of
public administration, as
    an essential component of democratisation, of the promotion of human
rights and of
    cohesive and tolerant multicultural societies," concludes Mr.
Garonna.

    For further information, please contact:

                        Mr. Paolo Garonna, Director
                        Statistical Division

                        United Nations Economic
                        Commission for Europe
                        (UN/ECE)
                        Palais des Nations
                        CH - 1211 Geneva 10,
                        Switzerland

                        Telephone: (+41 22) 917 41 44

                        Fax:                 (+41 22) 907 00 40
                        Email: [log in to unmask]

--
Dave Gordon
Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research
University of Bristol
8 Priory Road
Bristol BS8 1TZ, UK

E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel: (44)-(117)-954 6761
Fax: (44)-(117)-954 6756




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