By Anastacia Sibanda

JWANENG - The achievement of both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Vision 2016 goals hinge heavily on the use of statistical data.

This was said by the Assistant Minister of Finance and Development Planning at the commemoration of the World Population Day.

Mr Charles Tibone said government requires statistics to determine the number of inhabitants in the country, their geographical spread and basic characteristic like sex, age distribution and education in order to design relevant programmes and policies to improve the lives of its citizens

Mr Tibone said Botswana under the guidance of the Central Statistics Office conducts censuses every 10 years to provide information for the benefit of the nation.

The assistant minister further said the development partners including the civil society and the private sector also need statistics to identify areas where they can augment government's efforts.

He further said the information gathered by way of a census assists Batswana and other potential investors in identifying the opportunities for business or the areas where the country needs assistance.

Mr Tibone said the need for a regular conduct of census is also a requirement under the Botswana Constitution. In particular Section 64 and section 65 of the Constitution makes provision for the delimitation of the constituencies using the latest census data.

He said through this process, the constituencies reflect the number and distribution of people across Botswana hence it is everyone's constitutional right to be counted.

He said previous censuses in Botswana have enabled the government to account for everyone in Botswana including Batswana living abroad.

Mr Tibone further said previous censuses have revealed that the country's population, which was predominantly rural at independence, was more urbanised over the years given that the proportion of people living in urban areas increased from 9.5 percent in 1971 to 46 per cent in 1991 and reached 54.2 per cent in 2001.

He said that alone makes it necessary for the policies and plans to incorporate the opportunities and challenges resulting from such changes in the population distribution.

Speaking about Jwaneng Township, the Assistant Minister said over the years, Jwaneng has experienced an upward trend in population growth.

The population of the township, he said, increased from 11 200 in 1991 to 15 179 in 2001, adding that it is projected that Jwaneng population would reach 17 550 in 2011.

He said the 2011 Population and Housing Census will give an indication of the actual number of inhabitants in the area. He said the growing population potentially provides a market for goods produced by the farmers and other businesses around Jwaneng. Mr Tibone said the neighbouring settlements also tap on the services provided such as schools, health facilities, water, electricity supply as well as sports and recreation facilities. For her part, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative, said her organisation actively supports countries in the conduct of censuses.

Ms Sarah Masale said censuses are central to their mandate and mission, adding in Botswana they are substantially involved in the preparations of the forthcoming census exercise hence they are providing technical assistance and material support.

She said the census and population data play a critical role in the development and humanitarian response and recovery.

Ms Masale said at UNFPA, they believe that with quality data they can better track and make greater progress to achieve the MDG and promote and protect the dignity and human rights of all people.   BOPA