Government | Wednesday 18 March, 2015 12:17 am |

Higher Committee for Sharjah Census 2015 holds its first meeting

The Higher Committee for Sharjah Census 2015 has held its first meeting at which presentations were given on the phases of implementing the project. The meeting was presided over by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al Thani, Chairman of the Department of Statistics and Community Development in Sharjah (DSCD).


Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al Thani highlighted the importance of the Sharjah Census 2015 in providing the necessary data to support strategic planning and comprehensive human and infrastructure development, as well as for conducting socio- economic studies to boost progress and prosperity in the emirate.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al Thani said, “The Sharjah Census 2015 will enable decision makers and organisations in Sharjah to lay down their future plans and help develop economic, social and cultural sectors by defining demographic structure, the population status and their needs, and ensure their compliance with plans set by the Government of Sharjah.”

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al Thani applauded government organisations and bodies for working together to ensure the success of the Sharjah Census 2015, and stressed that participation in the census project is the social responsibility of Emirati citizens, expatriate residents and investors in the Emirate of Sharjah.


He said, “The census results and its data will reflect positively on all walks of life in the emirate and will benefit present and future generations as the census outcomes will be used in developing and expanding projects to cope with Sharjah’s growing population and needs. All personal information and data provided to researchers working for the Sharjah Census 2015 are confidential and will not be shared with any person, or public or private body, and will not to be used except for the purposes of statistical data.”

The census will begin in October and will be implemented in two phases, first data gathering and then collating. According to Abdullah Al Kudaid, Director of Statistical Sectors, the phase of data gathering will start on October 20 and will run for thirty days. “During that time the number of buildings and establishments within the Emirate of Sharjah will be gathered. Then the collecting of data involving the population and property will start in December,” he said.

According to Eng. Amna Alzaruoni, IT Manager and Engineer at DSCD, the latest methods of data collection utilizing electronic forms installed on tablets (iPads) will be used and the supervisory centre system will follow up the work of researchers carrying out field work through monitoring screens in the operations room. “This call centre supervisory system will play a pivotal role in ensuring quality and accuracy in data collection”, she said.


Attending the meeting held at Al Qasba were Afaf Ibrahim Al Merri, Chairperson of Sharjah Social Services Department, Sultan Abdullah Bin Hadda Al Suwaidi, Chairman of Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD), Adviser Sultan Ali Bin Butti Al Muhairi, Secretary General of the Sharjah Executive Council, Colonel Abdullah Mubarak Bin Amer, Director General of Central Operations Sharjah Police, and Khalid Butti Obeid Al Muhairi, Head of the Department of Planning and Survey.

Also in attendance were Osama Samra, Director of Sharjah Media Centre, Nour Ali Al Nouman, Director of the Department of Information and Electronic Government, Eng. Khalid Mohammed Al Ali, Secretary-General of the Urban Planning Council, Khawla Abdul Rahman Hassan Al Mulla, CEO of Family Development Centre at the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, and Eng. Khalifa Mohammed Bin Hadda Al Suwaidi, Director of Engineer Department from Sharjah Municipality.

Participants from the Department of Statistics and Community Development included, Adviser Ali Bin Mahboob Al Raisi, Assistant Chairman, Abdullah Al Kudaid, Director of Statistical Sectors at DSCD, Amna Al Zarouni, IT Manager and Engineer at DSCD, Statistical Expert Nader Al Hallaq, in charge of Technical Affairs, Thuraya Al Hajji, official in charge of Administrative and Financial Affairs, Huda Al Hashimi, Adverting and Marketing Executive, and Noura Al Kaabi, Director of Chairman Office.


Last month, His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, issued an Emiri decree No.7 of 2015 on conducting a general census of the population, infrastructure, housing and establishments in Sharjah.

Under the decree, a higher committee named, The Higher Committee for Population Census in the Emirate was established to supervise the census, which aims to provide accurate and reliable statistical data on economic, social, demographic and other sectors in the emirate of Sharjah.