The 2021 Census was successfully completed despite all drawbacks. We now need to process all the data and by end of March, beginning of April next year, come out with the final data of the census, which is the easier part of the job, since it depends only on us, without external factors. I am very grateful to CIVIL for being the wind at our backs and giving us full support for holding and conducting the census, said the Director of the State Statistical Office, Apostol Simovski, at CIVIL’s public event “X-Ray Image of the Census”.
The main thing, according to Simovski, is that despite all the drawbacks such as the pandemic, the postponement due to political reasons, the summer holidays, the open campaign for a boycott, as well as the technical problems with the application and the fact that we were a constant target of hacker attacks, the census was successfully implemented.
“We had hacker attacks and they hindered our work, but they did not manage to get into the database, it was maximally protected.Our website was constantly under attack, our emails were blocked, hacked, so we sought other hidden paths, methods for communicating with the public.
The enumerators went to all of the citizens, we even placed points for anyone who had not been registered at home to be able to exercise their right to register.
With the very implementation of the census, as an institution, I hope that we have shown that trust can be restored in the institutions in the state. That there are institutions that function as they should, that we are not a classic bureaucracy and that we exist for other”, stated Simovski.
According to Simovski, the census was conducted in compliance to all health protocols and the fact that only eight enumerators got sick is confirmation of this.
“Nearly five thousand people were included in the entire operation. Eight enumerators got infected with covid in this operation, and so far we have not received information of any household having had problems in this part, that someone got sick from an enumerator that had passed it on, and only one state instructor got infected at home. That shows that we maximally complied to the set protocols and they were really good”, said Simovski.
CIVIL Panel discussion “X-Ray Image of the Census”, photo G.N
Simovski, once again expressed assurance that not a single person will be left out of the final data of the census, outlining that their goal was for everyone to be covered with the field segment, which will be known after work with the base is completed
“Our obligation as an institution is for all entities in the country to receive timely, quality and accurate information, based on which they can create quality policies of development, education, economy and so on”, said Simovski.
Simovski said that he wants the business sector to be their main user.
“You can be the best chef in the world, but if you do not have the products you cannot make nice and tasty food. The same goes for the business sector, some can be very successful, but if they do not have data, they cannot function.
Unfortunately, our country does not produce statisticians during education. The use of accurate data is a chain for successful policies in all sectors. Imagine building a school where there are no children, and vice versa, that would be a waste of money. That is why data is important.
We exist for others, and not others for us. We have to be open and transparent. I thank you CIVIL for the support, both as a media outlet and as an NGO that continuously publishes accurate information on the census”, emphasized Simovski.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
