The International Monitoring Operation (IMO) for the 2013 Population and Housing Census in Bosnia and Herzegovina met with representatives of governments, including Minister of Civil Affairs Adil Osmanovic as Census Coordinator, and with the directors of all three statistics agencies in BiH  on 2-3 February 2016 in order to assess and discuss progress as well as to map the way forward regarding  publication of the final results.

The IMO, chaired by Pieter Everaers, Director at EUROSTAT and responsible for Statistical Cooperation with Enlargement Countries, reiterates the need to urgently finalise the data processing and preparation for publications. This is of utmost urgency, now that  more than two years have passed since the enumeration.

Although the IMO observed only modest progress over the previous months with regard to resolving the few methodological points necessary for adopting a common methodology, the IMO noted a strong commitment of the statistical institutes to finalise the census operation.

The IMO, mandated to monitor the compliance with international recommendations and the European regulation on population censuses, considered that the preparations for the census had been conducted well, and later qualified the enumeration as overall smooth and conducted in accordance with the agreed methodology and the international recommendations, this being the case across the country. The successful scanning and capturing of data followed the enumeration period.

Bosnia and Herzegovina committed itself to conducting a population census and undertook the initial steps successfully. Consequently, the IMO now strongly encourages, again, the statistical institutes to complete the census and publish the results,  and the BiH Council of Ministers to provide full support to the finalisation. This is part of the responsibility that BiH took on by committing to hold a census.

The IMO will continue to monitor progress with regard to implementing the census methodology in accordance with international recommendations and will follow closely the developments over the coming months. The IMO is confident that key outstanding methodological issues, in particular the determination of the resident population, will be resolved soon.

The European Union attaches crucial importance to the census in BiH not only because of its relevance in the framework of the European integration process but also as vital to performing economic and social planning. This is of particular urgency in the context of the Reform Agenda, of which the census is an integral part.

The IMO was established by the European Commission in 2012, upon invitation of the BiH Council of Ministers to ensure that the Census preparations and implementation comply with European and international standards. The IMO is comprised of representatives of EUROSTAT, chairing the Management Group, European Commission Directorate-General NEAR, CoE (Council of Europe), UNSD (United Nations Statistics Division), UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) and UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund).