The counting of inmates serving time at a Kumanovo prison marked Monday the start of the 2021 census of population and households in the country.

In the next two weeks, 2,200 inmates and people serving detention in prisons across North Macedonia will be counted. The census will take place in several stages and four certified census takers will be engaged in this part of the process, according to the head of the Directorate for Execution of Sanctions, Marjan Spasovski.

Justice Minister Bojan Marichikj, who was accompanied by the head of the State Statistical Office, Apostol Simovski to oversee the census operation at the K’shanje prison, stressed that it is a key operation and urged the citizens to ‘actively contribute to the development of their own country.’

“Collecting all the data is useful for us all to create policies in education, the economy, and healthcare among all other aspects. I think the discussion was ended last week after Eurostat affirmed as well that the census law and methodology are in line with top standards. After the affirmation, all dilemmas imposed by political factors have been settled. We all need to have trust in the census, because the process is professional in line with rules and standards accompanied by COVID-19 health safety protocols. We can complete it in the interest of the citizens in a swift and effective way,” he told reporters in Kumanovo.

Marichikj also called on politicians to stop politicizing and disputing the census operation, urging them to unite to send the same message to the citizens – to take active participation in the census.

Starting Monday, the app for members of the diaspora living abroad allowing them to fill in census forms online is open on the website of the State Statistical Office.

“It is an operation that is in the interest of all citizens of the country. Let’s carry it out as it should because we will all benefit. If we refuse to provide data to census takers, we are only harming ourselves,” Simovski told reporters.