Census to be conducted in September 2014

Department of National Planning (DNP) has announced that they have scheduled the next national census to be conducted from 20th until the 27th of September 2014.

Speaking at a news conference held by the Department today, the Assistant Director Fathimath Riyaza revealed that the slogan for next year's census as: “Count me in”.

“We will visit the houses this time too, and gather information of the number of people in each household, along with other information regarding the people in the household,” Riyaza said.

Riyaza said that they have planned to include a portion to collect information regarding foreigners living the country during the upcoming census. She said that information will be collected through telephones and the internet, and that a total of 3327 enumerators are to be employed. She said that the Department will announce to seek for enumerators in January 2014.

She said that the Department has now called for a logo competition to determine a logo for the census. She said that the competition will continue until the 15th of May this year and that a total prize money of MVR 5000 has been designated for the winner. The department has also launched a facebook page “Census Maldives” and a twitter account to promote awareness of the upcoming census.

Speaking at today’s meeting, the Department’s Secretary Ismail Shafeeq said that the census is a national effort and called upon all parties to lend their support. He assured that the information collected will be kept confidential.

A census was first conducted in the Maldives in 1911. Although the country has held a census every 5 years since 1985, 6 years has passed since the last census, conducted in 2006.