A team of experts from UNFPA HQ led by Tapiwa Jhamba - Technical Adviser: Population Data and Research and Ms Sabrina Juran - Technical Specialist, Data and Population Analysis, all of Population and Development and Branch, Technical Division and our co-partner from the University of Southampton WorldPop Project and Flowminder Foundation, United Kingdom; was in Nigeria from 26th to 28th March 2018. The objectives of the Geo-Referenced Infrastructure and Demographic Data for Development (GRID3) mission were to scope and identify both data and partnership opportunities for GRID³ project implementation in Nigeria and to discuss potential next steps with the Government of Nigeria on implementation of the GRID³ project to support the generation of high-resolution geospatial census data for development. It is worthy of note that GRID3 provides support to low- and middle-income countries to collect, analyze, integrate, disseminate and utilize high-resolution geo-referenced data on population, boundaries, settlements and infrastructure along with other key spatial datasets for evidence-based development and humanitarian decision making.
In December 2017, UNFPA signed a two-year agreement with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and United Kingdom Department for international Development (DfID) on “Estimating, Generating and Using Population Data for Development”. The aim of the agreement is to: i) advocate with governments for highest resolution census possible, ii) strengthen national capacity for high resolution geo-referenced population data, and iii) estimate national and sub-national population data in humanitarian and fragile settings where traditional census is impossible through hybrid census approaches that combine surveys and satellite imagery. Six countries were prioritized for the different work based on the need for potential hybrid census in DRC and South Sudan, the standards set in the conduct of high resolution census in Ethiopia, and the interest in inter-censal estimates or the opportunity to use available census data for population mapping in Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia.
