Population census last year was postponed due to pandemic this year for local elections

Berisha has also said that from four phases of the population census preparation, two of them have already been completed, and this time the registration innovation will be that it will take place electronically rather than on paper.

Kosovo's “Statistics Agency is implementing all activities planned according to plan and the previously envisioned dynamics for 2021. The ASS during this year has priority of the population registration project, of home economies and residences. Preparational activities for the population registration project, scheduled to be held on the ground in 2021, have been under way since 2018. It's all accomplished according to plan prepared by the AK. The plan has four stages. The first phase involves creating and establishing groups and road maps. Second phase with law, methodology, budget, communication, map creation and piloting. The third phase involving field operation and final phase involving publishing the census results”.

“The first two stages have been carried out, except for one under phase two activity, and we have under the third phase activity that is under way. The ASK has also prepared a series of documents from road map, task plan, budget management document, registration document, job description, strategic information technology plan, pilot registration plan, strategic communication plan, communication terms for communication and sensationalisation, post-registering polling plan, draft and geographical intelligence plan, law-proposal concept, questionnaire drafting, central commissions, supervisory, supervisory, recording and preparation of the app. This census differs from the preliminary census because it will be done with the equipment, it means by tablets and not by paper, and it has to prepare the special app in this” pill, it is expressed.

On the other hand, Berisha has indicated to EO that teams that will conduct population registration have already been provided, equipment purchase has been made, and a test has been conducted on the ground.

“Also during this preparation period in September 2020, the final census report, the creation of a drafter of the census bill, supply for pilot registration equipment, recruiting a part of the registration team, providing for personnel engaged in contract registration, visualisation and digitalisation of the maps on the tablets that were made at the beginning of this year, added to the ground, the first test on the ground has been added to the box.

According to Berisha, the challenge until this preparation phase remains the pandemic, which has directly influenced the postponement of the registration date, while this year the obstacle to conducting this process according to him has also become the organisation of local elections.

The difficulties and challenges are many, but what is of particular importance which has directly impacted the postponement of the registration date are two issues: Pandemia Covid-19 and all the countries where it was scheduled to be registered under the rules within 10 years in the same month as the preliminary census did not allow the pandemic conditions, while in 2020, due to health conservation measures, all activities had been cancelled and the pilot registration was able in April 2020 which methodologically allowed to be at least a year before the census and we held the same pilot in September-October 20th to have a census on the ground on the 1x>

The elections in October of this year have influenced us not to realise this year but to postpone it for the next year, waiting to create municipal institutions which are then set forth to establish municipal commissions that will have a key role in a successful census of the population”, it has ended for EO.