The agreement was signed by Deputy Foreign Minister Henrique Banze and by the head of the European Commission delegation in Mozambique, Glauco Calzuolo.
The sum made available by the Commission covers 40 per cent of the census costs. The agreement will be implemented by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA).
According to Joao Loureiro, president of Mozambique's National Statistics Institute (INE), 10 million dollars will be used immediately, in the period up to and immediately after the census. This covers a variety of operational costs, including printing the census material.
Loureiro told reporters that all preparations for the census are going ahead as planned. With the availability of the European Commission funds, everything is on track for the census to begin on 1 August.
"The Commission is financing the field operations and the staff involved", he said. "Right now, the training of the initial trainers is under way, and in June the regional trainers will be trained".
"Everything is going according to plan", he said, "and so far there is nothing to prevent the census from beginning on 1 August".
The total cost of the census is estimated at slightly more than 34 million dollars. The government itself is contributing 4.6 million dollars. Other partners financing the census include the World Bank, Britain, Ireland and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Calzuolo said that a reliable statistical base, that could be provided by a census, is a "sine qua non" for monitoring any development and poverty alleviation programme.
SOURCE: AIM
