2022 Census
IBGE signs agreements with UN to enumerate immigrants and refugees
August 02, 2022 03h30 PM | Last Updated: August 03, 2022 04h21 PM
After nationally launching the data collection of the 2022 Census on Monday (1), the IBGE signed two technical cooperation agreements with United Nations (UN) agencies to enumerate refugees and immigrants. The partnerships were signed with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the IBGE headquarters, in Rio de Janeiro.
The president of the IBGE, Eduardo Rios Neto, the acting representative of the UNHCR in Brazil, Federico Martinez, and the special advisor of the head of the IOM in Brazil, Socorro Tabosa, were present. The major area of action of the operations will be the state of Roraima.
“The two agreements are key to cover the international migration, especially that of the Venezuelans, yet also of the Bolivians and other segments of refugees both from Latin America and outside, like from Afghanistan and Ukraine. We will capture everything,” states Rios Neto. The president of the IBGE added that “the two United Nations agencies, both the UNHCR and the IOM, have information that will help the IBGE to pinpoint potential enumeration areas where we can find such people.”
UNHCR
During the 2022 Census, the partnership between the IBGE and the UNHCR will aim at streamlining the discussions related to the steps of analysis of the results of the census operation and of planning and monitoring of the IBGE´s household sample surveys. It will focus on the Census data collected in the state of Roraima, especially in the municipalities of Boa Vista and Pacaraima - the major port of entry of Venezuelan immigrants - and in other Federation Units.
The technical cooperation agreement establishes actions involving the two institutions in the dissemination of the 2022 Census and in the awareness of the local teams, as well as of the Venezuelan refugees and immigrants concerning the importance of their participation in the census operation.
The partnership will also be important to provide human resources with experience in the work with refugees and immigrants, as well as in streamlining the access to collective housing units that shelter them, aided by transportation logistics. It will also share the records of those residents and geo-referenced data on their localization on a monthly basis.
“To know how many they are, where they live and how they live is key to follow the principle of not leaving anyone behind,” highlights Martinez. “The UNHCR is an organization that works with the states to save lives, assure rights and look for a decent future for that population. Therefore, we are very satisfied in participating in this operation,” complements the UNHCR´s representative.
IOM
The support of the IOM to the 2022 Census will involve the articulation with organizations that work with migration in the state of Roraima and in other Federation Units, support of IOM personnel with experience with refugees and immigrants to streamline the approach of enumerators during the data collection and a possible logistic support to more around in the middle of the census operation, among other points. The agreements show that the Population Census is not only carried out by the IBGE, but also by its partners spread in the entire country, which lend their skills.
“The launching of the 2022 Population Census is supported by the IOM to collect the data on refugees and immigrants, especially the Venezuelan population. The IBGE has always been a center of excellence in capturing information on migration flows. We are available to maintain the IBGE as a reference in terms of information about migration, including the inter-census period,” emphasized Tabosa.
Roberto Sant’Anna, IBGE manager of International Relations, also highlighted the importance of the agreements. “It is important for Brazil to know the population of immigrants and refugees and identify where they are and how they live. Therefore, we can develop policies to host those people and provide them a better life condition, as they chose Brazil as their new homeland."
