2023-06-16 01:23:29
Dakar, June 15 (APS) – In her twenties, student Awa Diaw, member of one of the teams of the National Agency for Statistics and Demography (ANSD) active in the general census of the Senegalese population , describes the daily life of enumerators whose work continues despite the tumults and other constraints linked to political tension and its consequences.
The general census of the population launched on May 14 was due to end on Thursday June 15, but the duration of the operation was extended by five days due to political unrest and violent demonstrations that occurred following the announcement of the sentence to Opponent Ousmane Sonko sentenced to 2 years in prison for “youth corruption”.
These events undoubtedly disrupted the work of some 27,000 investigators and supervisors who had already begun to criss-cross Senegal as part of the fifth general population and housing census (RGPH-5).
Divided into groups deployed in census districts (DR), the investigators, recognizable by their polo shirt and cap with the RGPH logo, tablets in hand, go out every day to meet Senegalese in their homes.
Responsible for a DR, with the title of controller, Awa Diaw manages a team of five investigators. His day begins in the morning at 9 a.m. It is responsible for the area between the headquarters of the National Agency for Statistics and Demography (ANSD) and the Abdoulaye Nar Samb district in Grand-Dakar. ”After the morning briefing, I leave with an investigator from my team,” she explains.
On average, each agent investigates ten houses a day. The work is faster in low houses, where usually there is only one household. Unlike R+4 buildings, for example, which have several apartments, and therefore several families. Just one of these types of habitats can take the agent all day, says the census district manager.
However, she points out that this does not repel the investigator who “can find a moment of respite there, following long walks under the hot sun of Dakar”.
Absorbed by work, the interviewers also sometimes face refusals from certain households to welcome them or answer their questions.
“Most of the time it’s the same refusal answer that we receive, linked to a social belief that counting the number of members of a family brings bad luck”, informs Awa, pointing out that in such cases , the investigators show tact and engage in long sessions of explanation and awareness.
”In others, they are dealing with partisans of conspiracy theories, for whom this census hides political overtones beneficial to the current holders of power”, ironically Awa Diaw.
Such is the daily life of the thousands of investigators deployed by the ANSD for the needs of the fifth General Census of Population and Housing (RGPH-5), which falls within the respect of the international commitments of the State of Senegal.
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