Lack of budget and COVID-19 could hinder 2022 general census in Iraq: official

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation (MoPDC), Abdul Zuhra al-Hindawi, told Kurdistan 24 on Monday that two reasons might hinder the holding of the general census scheduled to be held in 2022. 

“The MOPDC is continually working on the preparations to hold the general census in Iraq,” al-Hindawi told a Kurdistan 24 correspondent. “We are doing our best to conduct the census sometime in 2022.” 

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As part of the MoPDC’s preparations for conducting the census, the ministry has opened special offices throughout the country, including in the province of Baghdad, Karbala, Anbar, Basra, Erbil, and Duhok. al-Hindawi revealed 

He explained that these offices are for testing and dealing with specific challenges they could encounter when carrying out the census. 

“A date has not been scheduled for holding the census yet,” al-Hindawi said. “Also, no budget has been allocated for the process within the 2022 Iraqi budget.”

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Al-Hindawi underlined that a special budget needs to be allocated from the 2022 budget to conduct the census during the current year. 

“Another reason that might hinder holding the general census this year is COVID-19, which has a direct impact on the whole process,” he said. 

“We have very good cooperation with our colleagues at Kurdistan Region’s Statistics Board, and we have been closely working together through the whole preparations’ process.”

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