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Experiences and Lessonsâ–¶
1. Project Planning and Management2. Geospatial Mapping and EA Database3. Enumeration Instruments and Tools4. Data Capture and Management5. Census Testing and Pilots6. Recruitment and Training7. Deployment and Supervision8. Enumeration and Logistics9. Quality Assurance and Risk Management10. Census Analysis and Products11. Partnerships and Collaboration12. Advocacy and Publicity13. Procurement and Financial Management14. Post-Enumeration Survey15. Alternative Approaches16. Planning Checklist
Case Studiesâ–¶
1. Project Planning and Management2. Geospatial Mapping3. Enumeration Instruments4. Data Capture5. Census Testing6. Recruitment and Training7. Deployment and Supervision8. Enumeration and Logistics9. Quality Assurance10. Census Analysis11. Partnerships12. Advocacy13. Procurement14. Post-Enumeration Survey15. Alternative Approaches16. Planning Checklist
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Recommendations​

Based on the African country experiences, this handbook recommends that:

  • Implementing digital payment systems like mobile money and digital transfers for enumerator stipends and allowances reduces administrative overhead, minimises the risks associated with handling large amounts of cash, and provides a clear audit trail. The use of mobile money for payments can align with broader national goals of promoting digital financial inclusion.

  • In addition to having the normal sub-national level (county) bank accounts, it is important to open a bank account dedicated only to facilitating census activities at that level. In addition, include the sub-national level accountants in the process of managing census funds at that level, they should undergo thorough training on financial management and accounting of funds. They should be involved at an early stage of census planning such as budgeting. This enables more efficient management and accountability of census funds. Managers of the next census should watch against expensive ways of managing the census project by ensuring that procurement is done well ahead of the date of delivery by the suppliers.

Based on the African country experience, this handbook recommends that for a successful census procurement and disposal implementation:

  • There should be a timely constitution of the procurement and disposal committee and appointment of its sub-committees such as the Inspection and Acceptance/Rejection Committee (evaluation committee) that ensures that the goods and services are availed promptly. This will enable early planning and coordination of procurement processes. Where necessary, external stakeholders should be involved in all stages of procurement for electronic devices.

  • There should be strong synergy among the census committees, the user directorates with the procurement division. This should be buttressed with effective communication between the procurement division and the user directorate on item specifications. There should be frequent and regularly scheduled procurement committee meetings to provide status updates that enhance monitoring of progress made in requested materials and avoid unnecessary delays in procurement. Additionally, there should be early identification of risks and forwarding them to the risk management committee for timely mitigation to reduce their probability and likely impact.

  • The process of procuring census equipment should be done early before census training to avoid the challenge of getting equipment late. Procurement of publicity materials for the census should be finalised and distributed at least three months before the enumeration period. All the publicity activities should have adequate materials. See challenges faced in publicity.

  • In case of delays in procuring tablets, countries should have plan B and it should be reflected at the planning stage. The United Republic of Tanzania had a plan B of using the enumerators’ smartphones when there was a threat of not being able to have enough tablets. The smartphone was tested during pretest and used during training of enumerators in three cities. During recruitment of enumerators, having a smartphone with certain specifications suitable for the census questionnaires was considered as one of the qualifications of the enumerator.

  • The procurement of diaries for enumerators should be done at regional level to eliminate the inconvenience of delays.

  • In case of delays in procurement, all levels of training should leverage the use of soft copy questionnaires and manuals based on training applications to avoid inconvenience based on printing.