SANA’A, Sept. 30 – The Central Statistical Organization inaugurated on Sunday a workshop to discuss the Population, Housing and Establishment Census 2014 project document, in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Doctor Hassan Thabit Farhan, head of the Central Statistical Organization and deputy of the Supreme Committee for Census, said the workshop aims to create a real partnership among the Yemeni government, the UNFPA), funders and supporting organizations and governments of friendly countries.

Farhan said the Yemeni government hopes these organizations will contribute in funding the implementation of the Population, Housing and Establishment Census 2014  in terms of all its activities and stages, expressing his hope to provide the draft with views and opinions to make it successful so that it can be resorted to in setting future development plans.

Abdulhakeem Al-Abeed, undersecretary of the Central Statistical Organization and deputy of the Census project, said the Population, Housing and Establishment Census draft project will be discussed in the workshop to provide the necessary technical and logistic support because this project is essential for the Yemeni government as it will provide data to help decision-makers and data users, both governmental and nongovernmental.

Al-Abeed said this census is the third census since achieving Yemen’s unity, and it is the fifth in Yemen’s history. The population in the first census, from December 1994, reached 14.5 million. The second census, performed in December 2004, estimated the country’s population to be 19.6 million.

Marc Vandenberghe, who is a representative of the UNFPA, and several experts and specialized men attended the workshop. They discussed several working papers, the draft of the upcoming census, its legal framework and the plans and programs to implement its estimated budget and the suggested promotion strategy.

The 2014 census will include three main parts: a population census, a building census and an establishment census.

The U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) provided $1.6 million in support out of $10 million to carry out the census, making it the main supporter of the Central Statistical Organization’s activities.