The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) has made it clear that questions regarding pregnancy and the number of children ever born to a woman in a household will only be answered by women. Dr. Chris Mukiza, the executive director of Ubos, stated that women possess firsthand information about pregnancy and childbirth, making them the appropriate respondents for such queries.
Dr. Mukiza emphasized the importance of this information in guiding the team in disaggregating data on the country’s fertility rate. According to the World Health Organization, the fertility rate is determined by the number of children born to women during their reproductive age (15-49).
"The question about children ever being born by the woman in a given household will be answered by mothers because they are the ones who give birth," Dr. Mukiza said, adding, "This information is important when we are completing data on fertility rate. For example, now, any woman in her reproductive age can produce 4.7 children."
Additionally, Dr. Mukiza revealed that it would be the responsibility of women to explain whether they have children outside of marriage. Enumerators, he stated, would guarantee the privacy of respondents to freely provide factual information.
"They will be put aside and asked questions so that the information that they provide is confidential," Dr. Mukiza said, appealing to respondents to cooperate and offer accurate answers.
Mr. Didacus Okoth, Ubos's spokesperson, further clarified that mothers would be required to answer questions about the number of children they have, their age, and whether they attend school, among other inquiries.
"This is purely the responsibility of mothers. They are supposed to respond to the question about how many children she has produced. Unless a mother is not found at home, and the only person found at home is the man who is the father of the home, then a man can respond to that question," Mr. Okoth explained.
He added that the census exercise would capture data of the entire population, including the disabled, refugees, the elderly, children, among others.
The 2024 national census, which began yesterday, will be conducted for 10 days. The last census in 2014 estimated Uganda’s population at 45.5 million people.
The commencement of Uganda's national population census yesterday faced several obstacles, including faulty tablets, language barriers, heavy rainfall, resistance from both enumerators and the public, and a lack of internet data bundles. As we move into day 2 of the census, the big question that remains is, shall all go as planned moving forward?.
