DUSHANBE, July 12, 2010, Asia-Plus — This year, the population census will be conducted in 70 countries all over the world, including Tajikistan, UNFPA Representative for Tajikistan, Mr. Michael Jones, said in Dushanbe on July 9.
For Tajikistan, it will be the ninth census (In Tajikistan, the latest census was conducted in 2000).
According to Mr. Jones, some 8 million people now live in Tajikistan, which is approximately 8 times more than in 2913, when the first population census was conducted in the country.
“Our goal is not just to know the number of the population; our goal is also to introduce the required family planning program. It is very important, because the poverty level is high in the republic. Besides, these data are needed not only for us, they are also needed for investors who are launching their programs in Tajikistan,” Mr. Jones noted.
Speaking the national census that will take in Tajikistan from September 21-30, the NFPA executive representative in Tajikistan, Ms. Zuhro Ahmadova, noted that the goal of UNFPA was in supporting Tajikistan in using population data for policies and programs to reduce poverty and improve reproductive health as well as in comparing how much Tajikistan’s population has grown or decreased in recent years.
Representative from the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, Zebo Ismoilova, noted, “According to the data of the latest census conducted in 2000, Tajikistan population has grown six times since the first population was conducted in the country. Meanwhile, poverty increases as the population increases, especially in those countries that have a number of certain problems. Our goal is to know the exact number of people living in the country and introduce the family planning program. We want our families to consist not of 7-8 members but fewer so that they could live adequately and children would have opportunities to study and get adequate medical.”
We will recall that World Population Day was marked on July 9. The theme of this year’s World Population Day was ‘Everyone counts.’
UNFPA is supporting the global 2010 round of censuses, which will produce crucial data on the various aspects of population dynamics, including population growth, fertility, mortality and migration, as well as age, sex, migration and other information needed for charting a country’s progress.
