Somalia, UNFPA Advance Census Plans

MOGADISHU – Somalia’s National Bureau of Statistics (SNBS) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have renewed their commitment to improving national statistical systems as preparations accelerate for the country’s first population and housing census in more than five decades.

The commitment was reaffirmed during a visit to the SNBS headquarters by a senior UNFPA delegation led by Resident Representative Judicaël Elidje. The delegation was welcomed by SNBS Director General Dr Abdisalam Mohamed and senior bureau officials.

SNBS has previously held introductory meetings for the Census Core Team, bringing together technical experts from the agency, Federal Member States, and UNFPA to discuss planning, management, and technical aspects of the census. UNFPA has committed to supporting the census financially and technically, including training thousands of enumerators needed for the exercise.

Rebuilding Statistical Infrastructure After Decades of Conflict

Officials from both institutions reviewed progress achieved through a partnership spanning more than a decade, which has been central to rebuilding Somalia’s statistical infrastructure after years of conflict and institutional disruption. SNBS Director General Dr Abdisalam Mohamed has represented Somalia at global forums, presenting the country’s approach to collecting and managing displacement data and highlighting how the bureau is pioneering new ways to transform humanitarian data into official statistics.

The statistics bureau highlighted recent gains in population and social data, including continued preparations for the long-awaited national census. Accurate population figures are seen as vital for government planning, public service delivery and development programmes.

Socio-Demographic Survey and Geospatial Technology

Among the initiatives discussed was a recently completed socio-demographic survey conducted in five districts with support from UNFPA and the Gates Foundation. The survey covered about 50,000 households and combined traditional data collection methods with geospatial technology to improve population estimates, particularly in remote and hard-to-reach areas.

SNBS has published its first-ever Policy Brief, drawing from economic reports to provide practical insights for policymakers and development partners, reflecting a broader push toward institutionalizing evidence-based decision-making.

A Census Decades in the Making

For decades, Somalia has struggled to produce reliable demographic data because of insecurity, displacement and weak statistical systems. The lack of updated population figures has complicated efforts to allocate resources, plan public services and assess development needs across the country.

Somalia had previously set October 2024 as the target date for the census, which would have been the first in roughly 50 years. The country has only conducted the population census twice since independence in 1960 – once in 1975 and again in 1985-86 – but neither set of results was ever published.

Deepening Cooperation and Global Census Round

Both institutions said they were eager to deepen cooperation in strengthening Somalia’s National Statistical System, building technical capacity at federal and state levels, and improving the use of data in policymaking. The discussions also addressed preparations for Somalia’s participation in the United Nations-led 2030 Round of Population and Housing Censuses, a global programme designed to help countries produce comparable and reliable demographic statistics.

The visit comes as Somalia intensifies efforts to strengthen evidence-based planning and governance, with international partners increasingly emphasizing the importance of dependable data in shaping development priorities and tracking progress toward national and global goals.