7 News Belize

The Drive To Census 2020
posted (October 31, 2018)
The last population census was in 2010, and the next one will start on May 12, 2020.

But, to get a very early start - the effort was launched today at the Radisson with all the local and international partners. 7news was there:...

Dr. Leopold Perriott- Director General, SIB
"Belize is on the brink of conducting the largest and most expensive data gathering exercise in its history; the housing and populations centers in 2020."

Dr. Aaron P. Lewis- Chairman, SIB
"The 2020 Census is planned to be like none other in the history of Belize. There are crucial updates to the methodology to be used in the conduct of this census. We are planning for a field work exercise of two months, vastly reduced from the three to six months of field work in 2010 and all innovations in methodology are geared towards this end. Note, that this time around all dwellings will now be assigned geographical locations to assist enumerators in the field and more importantly to allow the linkage of statistics with geography."

Dr. Leopold Perriott
"It is not always the case that information released by this institute is pleasing to the government and often in fact the information does not portray a growing picture of the conditions in the country. On the other hand there are times when the information the institute produces is seen as being overly favorable; not matching up with the perceptions of some. Let me clearly state that the primary function of information produced by the Statistical Institute of Belize is not to please anyone but to reflect the truth, the reality as it exists in Belize in any given moment. Information produced has to be impartial and objective. In short, the statistical institute of Belize speaks truth, objective facts without favor or bias; and this is the way it should be. The institute has been allowed to conduct its business without any interference from any organ of government and it is clear that the intention of this government is that the professional independence of the Statistical Institute of Belize remains intact and sacrosanct. This doctrine of none interference is evidently a conscious one and we believe that only under these conditions can the credibility of information produced by the SIB be maintained. This Census exercise involves all institutions of the country as it evidenced by the broad representation of stakeholders present today. Government and none-government organizations, private and public bodies, local and international agencies all have a stake in the successful outcome of the census and all along with the general population must step up and contribute. Today marks the point in time at which all plans go into high gear. There is no turning back."

No turning back - and the the Statistical Institute of Belize, that means coming up with a realistic plan to make sure the census is completed in record time as they have promised.

For the institute, that means finding interviewers who can handle tough urban environments. That's because in the 2010 census - many of the interviewers quit - because they received threats when going into certain neighborhoods. Dr. Perriot spoke about making sure they have the right people for the job:..

Dr. Leopold Perriott- Director General, SIB
"The last time we conducted the census in 2010 the issue was that there was a huge number of dropouts of interviewers and so we were left with a small number of interviewers having to a huge population which just extended the lifetime of the census, of the field work. So, this time what I am telling them is that if we have to load up in the front end. If we need 665 people to do the job in two months we got to hire a thousand people to accommodate drop outs. Attrition rates, this is correct."

Jules Vasquez
"Now, one of the main reasons I felt people dropped out and it is the bigger issue here- the elephant in the room, so to speak- is the difficulty with conducting interviews in urban areas especially very poor areas."

Dr. Leopold Perriott
"There will be an issue in security. There is always an issue of insecurity in these kinds of things and so, we have to be in conversation with the police and the forces to see how we can get around these particular scenes."

Jules Vasquez
"Of course, if you involve the security forces you are less likely to get an accurate sampling because we know that the police are seen as oppressors and brutalizers in those neighborhoods."

Dr. Leopold Perriott
"This is the tricky situation and I think that you will appreciate that you are caught between a rock and a hard place. We do not want our people to be exposed to dangers and so there will be issues. We have to, first of all, talk with the people who are in these areas and come to an agreement of some sort. We have to have dialogue with them. And so, that is a first line of defense. The other line is to higher people who are from the region, from the area, that are known and respected in the particular area. That is an issue we have to be looking at. We have to higher people who have done this stuff before, who are very able and capable and who have a proven record to be able to obtain interviews and maybe have them in the area for the difficult ones."

So, what does the census hope to find? Well, according to the technician in charge of the effort - they expect that Belize's population will be close to half a million:..

Miriam Willoughby- Manager of Census and Surveys, SIB
"At census 2010 we recorded a population of 322,453 persons. We are projecting that we will have around 419,000 by census 2020. The census also provides information on sex and age. The last census showed that the population is equally divided between males and females with a median age of around 21 years. The census also provides information on ethnicity. The 2020 census showed that about 53% of the population saw themselves as mestizo and about 26% as creole."

The census starts in May of 2020, and already they have selected a logo, a theme, which is "Count me in" and a theme song.

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