Mohammed Al Thani: Statistics Are Essential in Building Strong Cohesive Societies

Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani, Chairperson of the Department of Statistics and Community Development (DSCD), emphasized that last year’s Sharjah census had facilitated launching an array of initiatives tailored to meet the needs of those it had identified as requiring special attention. Determining how many elderly people there were in Sharjah and the precise services they required, the emirate had started a mobile dental clinic as well as physical therapy activities for older persons. It also commenced a number of dedicated initiatives for widowed, divorced and abandoned women after having assessed their housing conditions, income and their children’s needs.  

The importance of providing accurate statistics in order to build a strong and cohesive community was the subject of a paper presented by the Department of Statistics and Community Development (DSCD) at the 15th Conference of the International Association for Official Statistics (IAOS), which is being held in Abu Dhabi from December 6-8, under the slogan ‘Official Statistics: Partnership and Continuous Innovation’.

The DSCD, a Sharjah community development organization, outlined how it compiled statistics for the ‘Sharjah Census 2015’ – a major study on the demographics of the UAE’s third largest emirate – through the paper titled ‘Partnership in Action for Results: Measuring and Monitoring Sharjah’. Taking place on day two of the conference, the presentation revealed how the census was launched to gather data on Sharjah’s population, with a particular focus on six community elements; the elderly, orphans, widows, divorced and abandoned women, people with disabilities, job seekers and those without an education.

In this regard, Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman of the DSCD, said; “DSCD’s participation at the 15th Conference of the International Association for Official Statistics is the perfect opportunity to show how the gathering of statistics can enable a government affiliated organisation to ensure the optimum provision of services to those most in need in their community. The presentation highlighted how we have been able to focus extra efforts to caring for groups that face special challenges by undertaking robust, detailed and inclusive data collection methodologies.”

The detailed presentation by the DSCD addressed the elaborated mechanisms for operationalizing, monitoring and encouraging societal participation both of families and individuals in the Census. The iCensus, a self-counting system available on the census website as an online application, allowed participants to fill out their information themselves after entering their usernames and personal pin codes into the iCensus, and complete the self-counting themselves. It provided them with the opportunity to choose the best time to complete the data in a private environment. The results indicated that 40% of families in the Emirate of Sharjah used this system, and that was a high rate compared to other regional and international experiences.

The Sharjah Census 2015 is the largest statistical operation ever launched in Sharjah. It provided accurate reliable statistics to be used in serving the economic and social development of the emirate. The census covered every element of its society, taking in families, individuals, properties and structures. The comprehensive and accurate data derived from it also included Sharjah’s establishments and their economic activities.

Chairman of the DSCD highlighted the role of individuals in the success of the census, underlining that it was a strong sense of civic duty from across Sharjah’s social segments that was instrumental in the collation of accurate data in the census project, with the emirate’s populace keen to collaborate with the census teams and ensure its success. He also stressed that it was important for official organisations to network and to exchange information and practices in order to gain full advantage of the acquired data and to put it to the best possible use.

“Collaboration and partnerships are crucial. No single organisation can work in isolation when providing services for their community. The Sharjah Census 2015 gleaned an incredible body of information about the demographics of our community but it was our successful collaboration with other organisations and agencies that enabled Sharjah to use it to its best effect and provide tailored services designed to improve the lives of every citizen,” he said.