Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed attended a meeting for the Presentation on the Population Estimation Survey for Somalia (PESS) today. They discussed the benefits for the Population Estimation Survey in all the 18 regions to bring forth accurate and reliable population estimates for people residing in urban, rural, IDP’s and nomadic areas through the water points and related data to support evidence-based decisions and policy.
Information and technology were stressed as valuable assets and powerful tools in the planning and decision making process. In an age of technology the benefits of using every single resource available is imperative to information gathering of all regions of Somalia down to the lower administrative levels. The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation made this remarkable event come to life by gathering raw data of the sampled enumeration areas for local communities. This displays Somalia willingness to move forward and to gain better achievements.
PESS was conducted by the Federal Government of Somalia with support from donors in conjunction with the local communities from districts throughout the country, from June 12th, 2013 and is still in continuation. UNFPA led the role in resource mobilization, coordinating and providing technical support to the Somali Authorities to carry and complete the PESS for the entire country.
This was conducted in two phases, with the first phase covering IDP’s and rural settlements in all 18 regions. The second phase covered the nomads at the water point during the pick of the drought season. Efforts were redoubled to improve coverage and the 1st and 2nd phase of the survey proved that few selected Enumeration Areas were not covered due to insecurity, floods, landmines and inaccessible roads. The goal of PESS is to further connect and build strong relationships with all 18 regions across the country to meet developmental goals.
The goal of PESS is to provide, design and implement inclusive pro-poor policies and programmes. It will also enable development and humanitarian actors to plan, implement and monitor activities to direct aid to areas with the greatest need.
H.E Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed also visited several Ministries including Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of Labor.
