Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani chairs 3rd meeting of the committee

Sharjah, 02 November 2015: Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani, Chairman of the Higher Committee for the Sharjah Census 2015 and Chairman of the Department of Statistics and Community Development (DSCD) chaired the Higher Committee meeting for the Sharjah Census 2015 at the Sharjah Municipality to discuss the progress of data gathering phase which started on October 20.

Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani announced the launch of a promotional campaign for the Sharjah Census called #yell0it aimed at urging the community to work collaboratively to promote the census via social networking sites. The campaign's title has two meanings, the first means the number of people and establishments counted down to zero, and the second one means yellow, which is the colour of the logo of the Sharjah Census 2015. He added that the committee had published many advertisements to explain the importance of census to the residents.

Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani said, "A few days ago we embarked on the phase of data gathering, and the team of researchers and supervisors has begun the daily field work to count buildings and establishments. The data gathering process will be completed on November 20th and a short text message will be sent to all families containing a user name and password to allow them to fill in the form electronically via the Sharjah census website."

Sheikh Mohammed clarified that the census staff will visit homes and facilities to collect preliminary data, including the addresses and coordinates of houses, the number of members of each family, the name of the person interviewed, a phone number to communicate with this person and the family, and identity card numbers. He urged government and private organizations to help speed up the census process through initiatives and awareness activities for staff and workers in the emirate so they are familiarized with the self-counting system and motivated to participate, in order to speed up the census process.

Sheikh Mohammed stressed that supporting the Sharjah Census 2015 is a national and social duty of individuals, government bodies and private companies. He pointed out that the census project will benefit all members of society with regard to strategic planning, economic and social developments. "The Sharjah Census 2015 will enable decision makers and organizations in Sharjah to lay down their plans and help develop economic, social and cultural sectors by defining demographic structure, the population status and their needs, and ensure their compliance with plans set by the Government of Sharjah," said Sheikh Mohammed.

The meeting was also attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Humaid Al Qasimi, Director of DSCD, Sultan Bin Butti, Secretary General of the Sharjah Executive Council, Eng. Khalifa  Bin Hadda Al Suwaidi, Director of the Engineering Department at Sharjah Municipality, Khalifa Mohammed bin Omair, Director of the Field Work Department at the National Bureau of Statistics, Nour Ali Al Nouman, Director of the Department of Information and Electronic Government, Khawla Abdul Rahman Hassan Al Mulla, CEO of the Family Development Centre at the Supreme Council for Family Affairs,  and Fatima Mousa, Director of Corporate Performance Management at DSCD, as well as a number of DSCD's directors and officials.

Abdullah Al Kadeed, Director of the Statistical Sectors and Director of Census Operations,  said the committee set up an operation room to follow up the work progress of the census and answer inquiries from the public. He said, "The Sharjah Census 2015 is the first step of a long-term plan to make Sharjah the Middle East's first city to adopt the administrative census, which relies on administrative records to ensure a high-level of sustainability as well as to update and document data.  There is the important role of data in achieving sustainable development, and which will enable decision makers to have an overall picture that accurately reflects the emirate and defines the possible means to further enhance the current development."

Jameela Ghanem Al Humairi, Head of PR and Communications at the Sharjah Census project, highlighted the events to be organised by the committee and praised the official sponsors of the census, who are Etisalat, Air Arabia and the Roads and Transport Authority for their services to make the census a success.

In February, His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, issued an Emiri decree No.7 of 2015 on conducting a general census of the population, infrastructure, housing and establishments in Sharjah. The census aims to provide accurate statistical data on economic, social and demographic sectors, and others in the Emirate of Sharjah.

The Sharjah Department of Statistics and Community Development is the only authorized statistical body in the emirate and the source of official statistical data, as well as the body mandated with all community development related policies and plans. It is a corporate body with full legal capacity to carry out and direct all works and necessary actions to achieve its objectives.

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© Press Release 2015