A ten-day training on Post Enumeration Survey (PES) organized by UNFPA was launched in Adama on June 12. The training is aimed at building the capacity of CSA experts on post enumeration survey analysis and evaluation.

Ethiopia is conducting the 4th Population and Housing Census later this year. No PES has so far been conducted in the history of census in Ethiopia. UNFPA is supporting the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) to carry out the PES as per the recommendation of the UN to increase the quality of the Census. The training is being given to ten CSA statisticians by a veteran Kenyan PES expert, Jason Onsembe.

Collins Opiyo, UNFPA Chief Census Adviser at CSA, in his presentation during the training noted that every country is required to conduct censuses according to international census standards and best practices. He said PES is important because errors occur due to the gigantic nature of a Census undertaking.  

The training is expected to familiarize the participants with basic concepts about PES, to help them prepare tabulation plan, conduct field reconciliation, to adopt the suitable PES evaluation methodologies and procedures, to estimate and evaluate errors and rates and to write evaluation reports among others.

At the end of the training the CSA experts that include both the young and the long-serving statisticians are expected to have better understanding and effective implementation of PES and evaluation of the 2018 Population and Housing Census.