BOMBALI, Sierra Leone, 29 September 2017 - Statistics Sierra Leone with technical support from the UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and other development partners engaged in a three-day workshop to review seventeen thematic reports using data collected from the 2015 Census. Participants at the workshop included national consultants, managers at Statistics Sierra Leone (SSL), Chairman of the Census Technical Committee and Chairman of the Statistics Council. UNFPA’s Census team provided technical support and facilitated the workshop which was funded by Irish Aid.

At the workshop, Acting Statistician General, Mr. Abubakarr Turay said, “A number of reports have been generated on the census but the thematic reports are very in-depth and useful for development interventions.”

The main thematic areas covered at the workshop included: population structure and distribution; fertility and nuptiality; educational and literacy characteristics; census atlas; children adolescents and youth; gender; elderly; disability; migration and urbanization; housing conditions; poverty and durable assets; population projections; economic characteristics; mortality; and Ebola socio-economic imparts. The analysis of the thematic reports will provide disaggregated data by age and sex at national, regional, district and local levels.

Census data provides current information on the population for purposes of planning, and development. The data makes it possible for government to plan better services, improve the quality of life of vulnerable groups, particularly women and young girls. Statistical information, which serves as the basis for constructing planning forecasts, is essential for the democratic process as it enables citizens to examine government and local authority decisions and promotes public accountability. From these reports, the census data will be available to decision-makers as a basis for setting policies in various fields such as: housing, education, health, and welfare.

Ibrahim Kamara, UNFPA Sierra Leone, Assistant Country Representative said, “The reports will help meet the demand for data, especially to track progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, and key strategic documents. The thematic reports will also help UNFPA to focus on accountability in development initiatives at all levels of its interventions, particularly for women and young girls.”

The thematic reports from the workshop will help inform UNFPA Sierra Leone’s country programme with the data guiding the development of specific objectives that will improve services for women and young girls.

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