“General Statistics” aims to ensure the effectiveness of public decision-making and the development of social planning

Only a few weeks separate Morocco from cutting the ribbon on the journey of the seventh statistical operation, which the High Commissioner for Planning, Ahmed Al-Halimi, previously confirmed that “it will be compatible with the characteristics of the Kingdom’s development model and the international goals for sustainable development, operational efficiency, and rationalization of budget expenditures.” Tens of thousands of participants were harnessed to make it successful, and advanced means were used. You want accuracy and efficiency.

The 2024 census is considered the seventh census during the time of independent Morocco, after the 1960, 1971, 1982, 1994, 2004 and 2014 censuses. King Mohammed VI, in his message to the Prime Minister regarding the subject, stressed the exploitation of data and the empowerment of relevant decision-makers and actors in order to quickly identify emerging trends to formulate appropriate public policies and adapt them. Various programs with the interest of the country and the well-being of the people.

The Kingdom relies on this statistical process to update data regarding national demographics, the level of community vitality, and the distribution of territorial energies, which will lead to the adaptation of national policies and programs to the results expected to be reached, so that this will ensure the effectiveness of plans and the convergence of public policies approved by the public actor.

Academics drew attention to “the importance of this year’s edition of the census, given the special circumstances during which it is conducted, especially in relation to the Kingdom’s involvement in providing important community projects, such as social protection workshops, which came with the aim of addressing the various shortcomings that are usually indicated by the High Commission’s reports.” for planning,” explaining that “the public actor still needs up-to-date data on which to base his decisions and policies in order to achieve effectiveness.”

Variables to check

Abdel Khaleq El Tohamy, a professor at the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics, revealed “the periodic need to carry out a statistical process every decade, which is what Morocco has been doing for more than 6 decades, as we are today at the gates of Census No. 7 after the last census carried out in… The year 2014, which will enable us to update all demographic and socio-social indicators on which public policy formulation is based.”

Al-Tohamy said, in a statement to Hespress, that “the last ten years were rich in terms of social changes and the type of policies that were implemented, perhaps the most prominent of which were social protection workshops, which today requires enriching information banks with updated and more accurate data,” noting that “this year’s edition The census will rely on innovative methods, which will support the audit of the results, as stated in the royal letter to the Prime Minister.

Reviewing the positives of the census, the speaker pointed out that “this process will enhance efforts to combat multidimensional poverty and the problems of housing, education, illiteracy and employment, after providing us with a picture that is more consistent with reality. However, it is unlikely that data will be different from what we have today, especially since we have access to “These projections are close, it is enough just to confirm them at the field level.”

The professor at the Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics, the main provider of frameworks to the High Commission for Planning, stated that “it is more appropriate to move to a stage where the census is conducted every five years in a way that enables us to keep pace with the rapid developments that Moroccan society is experiencing in its depth, while reducing the size of the forms and changing the curricula as is common in Europe, which reduces costs, especially if we rely on artificial intelligence and digitization mechanisms.”

Public decision

Abdelhafed Adminou, professor of administrative law at Mohammed V University in Rabat, said, “The various social, economic and environmental data and data that are expected to be provided as a result of this statistical process will enable the public actor to produce public policies and decisions that are effective and have a direct impact.” Specifically, to the citizens concerned.”

Admino explained, in a statement to Hespress, that “the public policies followed today are based on previous data and statistics through which the goals of enabling citizens to access their needs of education, health, employment, and infrastructure were set,” highlighting that “reproducing more accurate public policies during the current time, “It depends on the renewal of the data stock available to the state’s interests in various sectors.”

The spokesman explained that “public decisions today are taken by relying on modern digital means that also depend on the available accurate digital data on demographics, the national economy and the social fabric. Therefore, the success of any public policy remains linked to the solidity of the foundation on which it was founded and the accuracy of all data.”

The same academic considered that “the ten-year stage during which the statistical process takes place is logical; Because structural change within society can require a decade, in addition to the fact that even sectoral plans and policies are always close to or exceed ten years, which leaves us facing parallel measures, especially if we remember that the High Commission for Planning always releases quarterly and temporary bulletins detailing the During which it affects the structure of Moroccan society, at a time when government sectors are conducting their own studies.”