Population and housing censuses: Data for socio-economic programs

A short review of the African Population and Housing Censuses (PHC) in Africa highlighted the following notable weaknesses: a long interval between the completion of the enumeration and the publication of the PHC¿s outputs. The absence of an analysis plan at the design stage; the data analysis completed three years or more after enumeration; the analysis is too descriptive; lack of strategy for effective dissemination of results; long delays in disseminating results; the low use of the results and the high cost compared to the results obtained. This paper proposes strategies for improving the use of population and housing census data for the development, monitoring and evaluation of economic and social development programs.