The East New Britain Provincial Administration (ENBPA) has partnered with the PNG National Statistical Office (NSO) to roll out the 2024 National Census exercise in the province. This arrangement was materialised last week in Kokopo through a signed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the ENB Provincial Administrator, Levi Mano and the NSO, represented by its National Census Director, Ms. Hajily Kele. The signed MOA will see the two government agencies collaborate in the census exercise through its budget, data sharing and asset. Kele said that though the national census is conducted every ten years, there have been queries from the ENB Provincial Administrator as to what can be done within the ten-year period. She urged everyone to participate, as per the theme of the 2024 National Census, ‘Be counted, No One Left Behind,’ and acknowledged the support from stakeholders: both domestic and international partners like the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the US Census Bureau. “The success of this 2024 National Census, hinges on the participation of every citizen of our country. ENBPA’s invitation for the NSO to sign the MOA, shows the level of ownership by the province, in terms of conducting the census.” “This is because the data comes back to the provinces to use.” She added that the provinces should take ownership of the data and use it for planning purposes. Meanwhile, Provincial Administrator, Levi Mano stated the National Census falls in the same year as the Local Level Government (LLG) Elections and thus people need to understand and differentiate between these two national events. “Common roll update is for the elections, while data collection in the Census exercise is for development purposes in the country.” He stressed that census is part of history and has been happening over the years to ensure the government knows it’s total population so that it can better cater for their basic needs. “We in East New Britain, we have a growing population and are facing a lot of issues, with law-and-order problems in the community and the state of the economy is not where it used to be in the past.” He also made a call to parents and leaders in the communities to play their part and ensure every person in their families and the community, is counted in this year’s national census exercise, set for next month, June. “The provincial government is committed to this program and the Provincial Executive Council recently approved additional funding, as requested by the NSO, for the program.” Furthermore, ENBPA supports the rollout of this program in the province, because quality and accurate data is needed for effective planning in East New Britain. Mano explained that the signed MOA with the NSO will pave way for training of officers to be carried out. The MOA signing was followed by a float program which began in Kokopo, then proceeded to Gazelle and Rabaul districts, to make awareness about the National Census within the urban centres and the rural communities.