Everything you need to know about the 2024 Census which starts this Sunday

Friday 30th August 2024 06:06 PM

In fact, there are more than 55,000 participants in this seventh census operation. These people, mandated by the

were subject to rigorous selection. They were sorted from 500,000 applications received. The High Commission for Planning had pre-selected approximately 200,000 candidates in an initial stage based on objective criteria and the territorial needs of the operation. The selected candidates then benefited from distance learning, provided over a period of three months, at the end of which they successfully validated all the modules. The regional directors and provincial supervisors of the HCP then conducted individual interviews to ensure that the 55,000 candidates recruited indeed possess the skills and abilities necessary to carry out their missions. All of these candidates subsequently benefited from face-to-face training launched last July.

Regarding the profile of these participants, Mr. Lahlimi indicated that 60% of them are graduates and some students32% are teachers5% are civil servants administrations and public institutions, and 3% are employees of the HCP, the private sector, as well as retired civil servants. “The selected people have at least a bac+2 level. We also opted for the profile of teachers because the experience of the 2014 census demonstrated the good performance of these executives accustomed to interactivity with students. We wanted to retain a greater number of these profiles, but unfortunately some were not able to obtain validation from their administration. Consequently, we were forced to intervene in certain cases to obtain authorization from the administrations concerned,” noted the High Commissioner for Planning. As for the age group of the participants, we learned that 48% are young people aged between 20 and 29 and 80% are under 40.

Accident and illness insurance

Furthermore, and to guarantee the security of these investigatorsthe High Commission for Planning announced their subscription to a assurance covering the period between August 15 and September 30. This insurance will cover medical, pharmaceutical and hospitalization costs and provides compensation for insured persons in the event of permanent disability as well as in the event of death. The said insurance also provides immediate medical assistance in the event of an accident. It should be noted that in addition to this provision, the HCP has planned to guarantee the transport of investigators and persons mandated in landlocked areas in order to facilitate their task.

On another note, regarding the section on data protection collected, Mr. Lahlimi reassured that this section was taken into consideration, noting that all information that will be collected will be confidential and will not be used for tax or criminal purposes. “The questionnaires do not include questions on household income or expenditure, nor on the number of the national electronic identity card. Thus, the data collected during the census cannot be linked to personal data included in other administrative registers, such as the national population register or the unified social register, and do not play any role in determining the eligibility or right of families to benefit from direct social assistance programs,” Mr. Lahlimi reassured, while specifying that the collection of data during the census will be carried out via a computer application, developed by HCP executives and installed on tablets, including the boundaries of the districts and routes that the investigators must follow at the time of the census, the questionnaires and the rules of consistency and validity of the data collected, thus facilitating the exploitation of the information collected on site before their transfer, in real time, to the data management center.

Double questionnaire for households

It should be recalled that thecensus operation will rely on a double questionnaire to collect data from households. Thus, the first questionnaire includes questions related to demographic structures and rare phenomena such as international migration and mortality, while the second, detailed questionnaire includes, in addition to the above, questions on new topics, including social protection, the use of information and communication technologies and the environment.

According to Mr. Lahlimi, the long format of the questionnaire aims to delve deeper into the topics usually included in previous statistics, such as fertility, health, education and economic activity, which will provide the data needed to monitor the sustainable development goals and keep pace with the implementation of the new development model. This questionnaire is thus addressed to the entire population of municipalities with less than 2,000 households and to a sample of 20% of households in municipalities with a size greater than or equal to 2,000 households, while the short questionnaire will be addressed to 80% of the population.

One map for households and another for economic establishments

The High Commissioner for Planning, Ahmed Lahlimi, indicated that two cartographies had been carried out as part of the process of preparing the General Population and Housing Census (RGPH 2024). The first mapping, devoted to constructionsaims to ensure exhaustive coverage of households during the census, without omission or double counting, according to a division of the entire national territory into nearly 38,000 census districts. These districts, easily recognizable in the field, were each sized to correspond to the capacity of the investigator to collect information from all households residing in his district during the census period.

As for the second mapping, it concerns the economic establishments and was carried out using a mobile geographic information system, coupled with very high resolution satellite images. This mapping provides an overview of the existing infrastructure in each district, including economic and socio-cultural establishments (mosques, cultural centers, etc.), municipal facilities (public administrations, schools, hospitals, etc.), associative establishments (associations, unions, etc.), as well as weekly souks.