ADDIS ABABA: The joint session of the Ethiopian House of People’s Representatives and House of Federation on Monday postponed the Fourth National Population and Housing Census by a margin of one year period due to unrests.
The National Population and Housing Census, which was scheduled to take place during the current 2017-2018 Ethiopian fiscal year, was postponed to 2018-2019 Ethiopian fiscal year, due to security challenges that affected parts of the Eats African country.
The postponement of national census came weeks after the decision by the Ethiopian House of Peoples and Representatives, Ethiopian parliament’s lower house, to postponed local elections for a similar period due to security related challenges that, in some occasions, led citizens to forced displacement.
Yalew Abate, speaker of the Ethiopian House of Federation, while briefing the joint session on Monday, stressed that challenges attributed to recent unrests in parts of the country have affected the country’s preparation in various ways.
He further stressed that the postponement of the census “would help to obtain reliable and quality data regarding Ethiopia’s current states of affairs.”