Labour Force Survey gets own wheels
Presenting Dr John Steytler of the Statistics Agency with the keys to one of six new bakkies, the new German Ambassador to Namibia, H.E. Hückmann, said the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) has taken a remarkable development since its inception earlier this year.
As the central statistical authority and repository for all statistics produced in Namibia, it collects and disseminates statistics and spatial data, educates the public on the use of statistics, and designates statistics as official statistics.
Under the Namibian-German cooperation, the German government has committed itself to support this important initiative. Through the joint “Partnership for Economic Growth Program” six Double Cab vehicles were handed to the NSA last week by H.E. Ambassador Hückmann, to be utilised, amongst others, to collect field data in the ongoing Labour Force Survey 2012.
The German government is further supporting the NSA to embark on a study visit to Germany in November to explore areas of cooperation with the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). In addition, financial and technical support worth approximately N$1.9 million is provided to support the establishment of a fully functional and state of the art data processing centre.
Construction of the centre has already begun and the equipment is underway. The data centre will be operational by the beginning of next year.
This joint initiative will contribute to the government’s objective to make relevant, accurate and timely statistics available for the private sector and civil society, and it will furnish reliable evidence for policy design and decision making.
