UN commission to urge governments to use censuses as development tool

The United Nations Statistical Commission, charged with preparing a world census programme in the next five years, has recommended urging that each UN Member States undertake a population and housing census and publicize its results as a tool in planning and development.

In a report to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Commission also asks Council members to approve a resolution supporting the 2010 World Population and Housing Census Programme, which consists of a number of activities aimed at ensuring that countries conduct a population and housing census at least once between 2005 and 2014.

The population and housing census is important to the preparation of "a meaningful core set of national data and information necessary for socio-economic planning and governance," it says.