VZCZCXRO0256
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNJ #0192 1411642
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211642Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6945
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS NDJAMENA 000192 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/C AND EB 
ALSO FOR USAID/DCHA/DG 
ACCRA FOR USAID/WA, H. PATRICK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID KDEM PHUM PREF PGOV CD
SUBJECT: STAND UP AND BE COUNTED: CHAD'S 2009 POPULATION 
CENSUS BEGINS; USG CONTRIBUTES $1.3 MILLION 
 
¶1.  Summary: Chad's second post-independence population 
census kicked off May 19 with registration of the President. 
The census is a necessary precondition for national elections 
in 2010 and 2011, and will facilitate donor planning for 
development assistance.  The USG has contributed $1.5 million 
which will be disbursed through the United Nations Population 
Fund (UNFPA).  Post wishes to thank the regional USAID office 
in Accra for the procurement assistance it provided for the 
grant award.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  Chad's second population census in almost 50 years of 
post-independence history got under way May 20 as President 
Idriss Deby Itno was registered at the presidential palace by 
the Director General of the census bureau.  Prime Minister 
Youssouf Saleh Abbas was registered shortly afterwards at his 
office in the presence of Chad's Minister of Economy and 
Planning, who has overall responsibility for census 
organization.  Chad's last census, which received high marks 
for its technical soundness, took place in 1993 when there 
was a population of 6.3 million. 
 
¶3.  A previous effort in 2003 to carry out the next census 
within ten years could not be organized due largely to a lack 
of funding.  Since then, Chad's overall economic situation 
has improved with the availability of oil revenues, while the 
donor community has come to realize the magnitude of the 
handicap it must face attempting to plan development projects 
without reliable demographic data.  The European Union, Swiss 
Cooperation, UN agencies (UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP) and the U.S. 
have all committed resources to the 2009 census whose 
estimated budget stands at $25.4 million.  The GOC has 
committed to covering 50 per cent of the census budget. 
 
¶4.  Despite the relatively modest size of its bilateral 
assistance program in Chad, Post recognized the importance of 
credible census figures for development planning as well as 
to serve as a baseline for the upcoming round of elections. 
It therefore made a commitment of $150,000 in September 2007 
shortly after the GOC issued an appeal.  Chad's Minister of 
Economy and Planning fondly recalls how the U.S. was the 
first of Chad's friends to respond to this call for help.  A 
more substantial contribution to the census effort was made 
by the U.S. with the recent May 15 signature of a USAID grant 
agreement to UNFPA in the amount of $1,275,000. Post wishes 
to commend the USAID regional office in Accra, Ghana for its 
expedient handling of this procurement action which allowed 
the grant to be awarded May 19, just in time for the May 20 
commencement of census operations.  A modest but meaningful 
signing ceremony of the grant agreement was organized by 
Chad's Economic and Planning Minister May 19 which also 
involved the UNFPA Resident Representative and the 
Ambassador.  The event received good coverage by the 
broadcast media. 
 
¶5.  To be accurate, several preliminary census operations 
have already been undertaken and completed these past few 
months by the census bureau, including large-scale 
procurement of vehicles and office equipment, mapping 
(administrative boundaries, village locations), testing of 
sample questionnaires and training of census agents.  The 
actual counting of Chad's population will occur between May 
20 and June 4.  Data compilation and analysis will follow. 
With the end of the rainy season in September/October, an 
electoral census will then be conducted, possibly with the 
use of biometrics.  Municipal and legislative elections are 
expected to occur in early 2010, followed by presidential 
elections in 2011.  Completion of the population census is 
therefore a key component to the upcoming election cycle. 
Several of the major opposition parties which boycotted 
previous elections had insisted that the population census 
and the electoral census be included as necessary 
preconditions for their participation in the August 13, 2007 
Agreement brokered by the European Union with the GOC. 
Through this recent grant award of $1,275,000 to the census, 
Post has contributed to a very practical but necessary 
operation that will promote political competition while 
providing the baseline data to guide our development efforts. 
 
NIGRO