Works of the preparatory phase of the 2024 General Population and Housing Census will be launched on May 20, Economy and Planning Minister Feryal Ouerghi announced. This census marks a qualitative leap in the statistics system as the various phases will be carried out digitally, she said on Friday at the first meeting of the national commission in charge of the 2024 general population and housing census. This method will improve the quality of collected data and ensure the use and publication of data as quickly as possible, she added. The adopted methodological approach will also guarantee compliance with international standards. Considering the importance of this census carried out by the State, the minister said, it is imperative to mobilise human and financial resources, increase the efforts of ministries and State institutions as well as regional and local authorities and civil society, and cooperate with specialised international organisations. This operation will help update data and enhance the s tatistical system with new data adapted to developments in Tunisian society and the living conditions of families at the regional and local levels, she highlighted. It will serve as a basis for household censuses scheduled in the near future, she added. This census will also enhance the regional database. This is the only source of data used to distribute the population according to the different regional and local levels, in order to adopt regional development programmes and ensure balanced development between the different regions. The National Institute of Statistics (French: INS) had been mandated in accordance with Decree No.183 of April 4, 2024, to carry out the census and set up regional and national committees. This decree stipulates that all conditions for the successful conduct of the census on the national, regional and local planes will be made available. Digital technologies will be adopted in the 2024 census; they will help set up the first nucleus of a statistical household register with a unified digital identifier followed by the setting up of a comprehensive national digital information system to help implement sustainable development policies. The minister said Tunisia is committed to keeping pace with developments in the statistics field by using modern technologies pursuant to the recommendations of the United Nations. The INS is one of the main statistical agencies that has adopted modern methods of data collection in connection to circumstantial and household economic surveys using digital tables and geographic information systems. The General Population and Housing Census will be carried out in five main stages, namely the methodology, methods, legal framework and budget approval phase, the survey-taking experience phase and the pre-survey phase, the actual census phase, the post-survey phase, and finally the use and release of the results. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse