Mapping Census Infrastructure in Pacific Islands: Institutional and Capacity Building Issues

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Mapping Census Infrastructure in Pacific Islands
Institutional and Capacity Building Issues
United Nations Expert Group Meeting
on Contemporary Practices in Census Mapping and
Use of Geographical Information Systems 29 May
1 June 2007 United Nations, New York
Scott Pontifex Statistics and
Demography/Population ProgrammeSecretariat of
the Pacific Community
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Pacific Islands region

• Three main sub-areas of Micronesia, Melanesia
  Polynesia.
• 22 member countries (15) and. territories (7)
• 9,1 million people over 34 million square
  kilometers of ocean

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Population and Housing Censuses, 2010 round

2005 2005 2006 2006 2007 2007 2008 2008 2009 2009 2010 2010 2011 2011 2012 2012
KiribatiPalau
Cook IslandsNiueSamoaTokelauTonga
Fiji
Marshall IslandsSolomon IslandsVanuatu
Am. SamoaCNMIFSMGuam Kiribati PalauPNG
Cook IslandsNiueSamoaTokelau
Nauru Tuvalu
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Context 2000 round of census

• Many Islands experienced difficulties financing
  their census operations in 2000 round.
• Other resource constraints such as skill
  shortages and limited external technical
  assistance lead to short cuts being made which
  affected quality of coverage and census outputs.
• Many countries (particularly small island states)
  had to start from scratch (in terms of trained
  personnel) and conduct the census with staff
  that had no previous census experience.
• The main problem is retaining experienced and
  trained personnel after census the operation.

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Financial constraints
Lack of funds Census and census mapping is an
expensive exercise. Many island countries
experienced some difficulties in financing their
census operations during the last census (2000)
round.   Technical assistance Limited external
technical assistance was available. Priority in
budget allocation Another problem is that
governments do not always give census a priority
which results in PICs relying on donor support to
adequately fund census activities
Budgets from selected PIC Censuses (2010 Round)
Census date Census budget US Govt contribution US Donor request US of donor funds
Kiribati 2005 (Nov) 316,500 192,000 124,500 39
Samoa 2006 (Nov) 342,800 177,800 165,000 48
Tonga 2006 (Nov) 311,000 101,000 210,000 68
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Human resources

• Lack of skilled personel and loss of experienced
  staff
• Several NSO are understaffed
• Experience staff turnover
• If there is continuous change of staff it impacts
  on the sustainability of census activities.
• Where do staff go?
• Other government agencies (associated with higher
  prestige)
• Better pay or career advancement
• Private sector
• Overseas migration
• Training overseas (study leave)
• Voluntary redundancy due to political reform

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Human resources How do NSO retain staff?

• 1. Implement NSO staffing structure parity
  with that of other Government departments.
•         E.g.- Government Statistician at same
  level (and pay) as Director of Planning Agency
  (otherwise people move)
•  
• 2.    Set up career structure, which is
  conducive to people staying
•        This allows people to see a professional
  future in the organization
• Greater need to recognize long-term benefits of
  developing new staff
• Provide ongoing training and the possibility of
  study leave (to promote professional development)
•        
• 3.    Give staff greater responsibility and
  meaningful tasks
•        Greater delegation of responsibility to
  younger staff is needed to provide them with
  variety of work and an environment to show their
  skills, take on challenges

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PICT National Statistics Office staff numbers
Country Staff Country Staff Country Staff
American Samoa 7 Marshall Islands 7 Samoa 27
Cook Islands 10 Nauru 3 Solomon Islands 22
FSM 19 New Caledonia 41 Tokelau 1
Fiji 80 Niue 3 Tonga 25
French Polynesia n.a. Northern Marianas 6 Tuvalu 5
Guam 16 Palau 5 Vanuatu 14
Kiribati 8 PNG 140 Wallis and Futuna 8
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Census mapping in the Pacific

• Pre census mapping is usually done late in the
  planning phase of the census cycle (often ad-hoc
  and too late).
• Most censuses in the past were planned and
  collected without a clear GIS capability in mind
  and lack of geographic identifiers.
• Traditionally census mapping is given low
  priority by most NSOs with several PICs lacking
  automated mapping systems
• The most common use of GIS is the use of thematic
  maps to disseminate and communicate their census
  data (post census).
• Collaboration with other government agencies has
  been challenging

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Solomon Islands 2 April Tsunami
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No digital maps used in EA definition
Blacksands 835
Port Vila, Vanuatu Blacksands (peri-Urban)
Enumeration Area In the 1999 Census this area was
enumerated with 943 Households 4818
Population
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(cont)
Port Vila, Vanuatu Freshwota (peri-Urban) EA
840 In the 1999 Census this area had 492
Households 2715 Total Population
1999
2005
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GIS for data dissemination and utilization

• There was a need to simplify population data, and
  to make these data more accessible at levels of
  geography below simply national levels.
• The SPC developed a customized software
  (Population GIS) for statisticians and planners,
  to improve the effectiveness of census (and other
  socio-economic) data dissemination and
  utilization
• So far 8 national systems have been developed
  covering the Federated States of Micronesia,
  Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Cook
  Islands, Marshall Islands and Wallis et Futuna
• Two distinct groups of intended users
• The producers of data and statistics (NSO)
• The main users of this data (Planning)

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Satellite Imagery and GPSCase Republic of the
Marshall Islands

• 2006 the Economic Policy, Planning and Statistics
  Office conducted socio-economic Community Survey
  on six Atolls to investigate basic living
  conditions and economic situation.
• Used small hand held mobile Global Positioning
  System (GPS) units and high resolution satellite
  imagery
• The team surveyed 1,205 households across 6
  Atolls with data collected on 9,491 individuals
  (roughly 20 of the estimated population of the
  RMI.

Majuro Survey Team being trained in GPS
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Case Republic of the Marshall IslandsPre
Survey Mapping
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Case Republic of the Marshall IslandsData
Collection
Survey map provided to Ebeye Survey Team
GPS coordinates, and selected households
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Case Republic of the Marshall IslandsPost
Survey mapping
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Conclusion

• Censuses and surveys need to be planned and
  collected with a clear GIS capability in mind.
• Census mapping needs to be properly planned and
  resourced and given higher priority by Pacific
  Island NSOs and become an ongoing process.
• While adoption of GIS in the Pacific has been
  sluggish. A growing local and regional capacity
  is being established in the region through the
  use of technology and long term training
  attachments
• Wider collaboration within countries, innovative
  solutions and a coordinated regional approach is
  needed for sustainable utilization of GIS for
  census mapping in the Pacific Islands

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• Tank yu tumas Meataki maata Malo aupito Ko
  raba Thank you Vinaka vakalevu Tangio tumas
  Sulang Faafetai tele lava Merci