Data that is sorted by gender and age can foster increased responsiveness by national decision-makers to the rights and needs of women and youth and help build a more equitable and prosperous society.
If people and their characteristics aren't counted, governments can't plan. If identification is not granted, it is impossible to track progress over a lifetime. If a birth certificate indicates a need for schooling, that informs the education system. If death records specify, to the extent possible, cause of death, health systems can be oriented to meet actual needs. If death records specify causes related to HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, pregnancy and childbirth, specific health services can be prioritised. Government planning depends on local and regional information that is supplemented by interviews with the groups most concerned. Such data makes it possible to meet real needs.
Access to good data is a component of good governance, transparency and accountability. Population data helps leaders and policy-makers to make informed decisions about policies and programmes to reduce poverty and hunger, and advance education, health and gender equality. Solid data is also needed to effectively respond to humanitarian crises.
The theme "Everyone Counts" highlights the compelling stories that numbers tell us about people. In Asia, when censuses and surveys identified sex-ratio imbalances and missing girls, governments responded, the media reported extensively on the disturbing trends and people were rallied to action. In Europe and other regions, policy debate heated up when data analysis examined the levels of replacement immigration needed to counteract declining and ageing populations.
For the past 30 years, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has played a lead operational role in helping to build countries' capacities for data collection and analysis. A current focus of UNFPA support is successful implementation of the 2010 round of population and housing censuses (2005-2014).
Data can reveal striking situations in countries. Girls may be delaying marriage, an indigenous population may be drastically under-served, and higher rates of contraceptive use and skilled birth attendance may show progress towards improving maternal health, which is one of the Millennium Development Goals. Censuses, surveys and vital statistics provide critical data to guide plans, policies and programmes to meet people's needs and improve their lives. This data is crucial as we strive for universal access to education, HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, and reproductive health and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, actively supports countries in the 2010 round of censuses. Censuses are central to UNFPA's mandate and mission to support countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girls and woman is treated with dignity and respect.
Population dynamics – including growth rates, age structure, fertility and mortality, migration, and more – influence every aspect of human, social and economic development. The results of the current round of censuses will be used in statistical systems and policies and programmes for years to come.
On this World Population Day, UNFPA asserts the right of everyone to be counted, especially women, girls, the poor and marginalised. Censuses and population data play a critical role in development and humanitarian response and recovery. With quality data we can better track and make greater progress to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and promote and protect the dignity and human rights of all people.
(Adapted from United Nations Population Fund's website)
