The International Monitoring Operation (IMO) is of the opinion that Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is ready to conduct the Population and Housing Census in October 2013, taking into account the technical preparedness so far and the willingness of the country’s authorities and Statistical Institutions.

Following the 10th assessment of the Steering Committee of census experts, conducted from 28 to 31 May, the IMO, chaired by Mr Pieter Everaers, Director at EUROSTAT and responsible for Statistical Cooperation with Enlargement Countries, commended the progress made in the technical preparations of the Census.

The IMO calls upon the statistical institutions to fulfil all the remaining preparatory work in a timely and efficient manner. The IMO stresses the importance of the full and continuous support of the BiH authorities INCLUDING by creating a favourable environment for the Census process and ENSURING good cooperation between the Statistical Institutes. The IMO equally urges the support of all political forces in BiH.

All authorities are urged to uphold the European and international standards in relation to all methodological issues in the Census. In particular, the IMO recommends that close attention is paid to a strong and effective communication component, in order to ensure sound public understanding of the Census and its relevance to the future development of social and economic policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A list of more detailed technical recommendations from the IMO will be soon sent to the BiH authorities via the report on the 10th assessment mission.

Note to Editors

International Monitoring Operation (IMO)

The IMO was established by the European Commission in 2012, upon invitation of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina to ensure that the Census preparations and implementation comply with European and international standards. The IMO is comprised of representatives of: Eurostat, chairing the Management Group, European Commission Directorate-General for Enlargement, CoE (Council of Europe), UNSD (United Nations Statistics Directorate), UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) and UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund).

During this 10th mission, the Steering Committee assessed in detail the preparation of the census in the three Statistical Institutions. The Management Group of the IMO met to discuss the state of preparedness in detail and to prepare the recommendation. Mr Pieter Everaers held meetings with BiH Minister of Communication and Transport, Mr Damir Hadzic, and with the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Institute of Statistics of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Institute of Statistics of Republika Srpska to present and discuss the assessment and the recommendations made by the IMO.