Guidelines for Census 2011 Ambassadors (Mps)

Guidelines for Census 2011 Ambassadors (MPs)

ANNEXURE: E

1 Table of Contents

1. Introduction...... 3

2. Members of Parliament as Census 2011 Ambassadors...... 3

3. Census 2011 Ambassadors...... 3

4. Roles and Responsibilities of MPs as Census 2011 Ambassadors...... 4

4.1 Lobbying and Resource Mobilisation...... 4

4.2 Advocacy and publicity campaigns (leadership)...... 5

4.3 Census management committees (partnership)...... 5

4.4 Security Committees...... 5

4.5 Information packs...... 5

4.6 MPs and their Neighborhoods...... 6

4.7 Information Sessions...... 6

4.8 MPs as Messengers...... 6

4.9 MPs as members of Portfolio Committees...... 7

5. Conclusion...... 7

2 1. Introduction

The aim of Census 2011 is to count everyone within the borders of South in October 2011. This means that the main focus of Census 2011 advocacy should be to broaden the participation in Census of all residents in South Africa. The current biggest challenge that Statistics South Africa faces is a double digit undercount experienced in the last census. This challenge has clearly showed that all advocacy strategies need to be multi-dimensional to get to the bottom of its systemic causes. It has also indicated that is unlikely that a single organisation can carry out a complete strategy addressing all the causes of the undercount. While in 2010 the common issue that pre-occupied majority of people’s mind was FIFA 2010 World Cup, this year’s common course still needs to be charted towards citizen-centred Census 2011 that will lead to the achievement of a single digit undercount of 2 percent. This depends largely on the power that organised number of people, including politicians, can wield together to organise various interests towards this issue of common interest. The starting point is a clear understanding of a problem that is widely and deeply felt by a large community or constituency.

2. Members of Parliament as Census 2011 Ambassadors

Based on the foregoing, a request was made by Statistics South Africa, through the Minister of Planning in the Presidency, Mr. Trevor Manuel, to request Honourable Members of Parliament (MPs) to play a specific role as Census 2011 Ambassadors in the mobilisation of the public in preparation for census taking in October this year. The request premised itself on the potential of MPs, as public representatives in parliament, to create public interest that can be transformed into positive results in terms of propping up census awareness and more participation during Census 2011 enumeration.

3. Census 2011 Ambassadors

MPs accepted an invite to partake as ambassadors in order to fulfill some of the following objectives:

a) To promote public awareness and maximum participation in the National Census through messages of support and public engagements in their speeches and statements;

3 b) To inform, educate and communicate the aims and importance of Census 2011 to the public as way of promoting positive perceptions.

c) To endorse the National Census 2011 as a household brand that enhances the capacity of the state to deliver a better life for all.

d) To engage all political leaders and senior officials, including policy makers, financial planners and other stakeholders they interact with in the course of their work to advocate for more effective use of statistical information;

e) To demonstrate in all public platforms how statistics and census, in particular, can be used as a reliable tool for measuring the country’s developmental trajectory at regular intervals;

f) To strengthen the growth and maintenance of the country’s National Statistics Development Systems;

g) To make or endorse major decisions (for instance: the vision for Statistics, reforming and restructuring the National Statistical System, incl. revising the legal framework) when this is necessary.

4. Roles and Responsibilities of MPs as Census 2011 Ambassadors

Advocacy requires strong leaders and groups who understand power, people and processes. Advocacy leaders face a perpetual juggling act of promoting collaboration and encouraging new leadership on the one hand, while giving direction and vision on the other. These require different skills and styles. The following is a set of guidelines that have been developed to guide MPs in their role as Census 2011 Ambassadors:

4.1 Lobbying and Constituency Mobilisation

The success of any advocacy campaign depends on the adequate outreaching of different constituencies. This means that continuous and persistent lobbying and influence in all corridors of power (including corporate management in private sector) for support must be emphasized. As Census 2011 Ambassadors, MPs are expected to assist in communicating the message of participation through lobbying the groups of influence of the members in the community or mobilizing different layers of their

4 constituencies. Moreover, MPs will give the necessary support to mobilize the necessary resources for the success of Census 2011.

4.2 Advocacy and publicity campaigns (leadership)

Members of parliaments are very influential in their area of jurisdiction not only as agents of change but also as opinion makers and shapers. For a project like Census to succeed, it is important that MPs positively engage and take leadership within their communities to demonstrate their support for the Census. This will ultimately encourage people to regard census as a matter of public interest. Once this is achieved, it will be easy to convince them to open their doors and to fill in the census forms.

4.3 Census management committees (partnership)

Census management committees are being established at different levels (National, provincial and Municipal levels) with broad representation of various organisations, including government officials, NGO, FBO’etc. MPs will be, therefore, encouraged to be members of such committees within the areas where these committees are formed. From June 2011, these committees were expected to also focus on monitoring and evaluation of the implementation phase.

4.4 Security Committees

Members of Parliament, as leaders within their constituencies, should also assist in matters concerning security as far as census undertaking is concerned (either as members of security committees or advisors for such committees). There are issues that relate to the security of fieldworkers and respondent alike which cannot be taken for granted as they often undermine efforts aimed at accessing certain households as well impede smooth flow of field operations. MPs should assist in areas where respondents may be concerned about their personal safety and security. This can be achieved by participating as members or advisors of security committees.

4.5 Information packs

5 Ambassadorship means being message carrier for the Census 2011 project. This cannot happen if MPs are not properly equipped with information packs that contain all the important information (facts, figures, messages, etc.) about census. Therefore, Stats SA will put all necessary information to be used in the Census 2011 Campaigns into MPs possession when they address any platforms promoting census. Census 2011 Communication team will ensure that all promotional materials such as brochures on the importance of Census (e.g. what does it mean to you and me, what information will be collected. Etc) are distributed to all MPs.

4.6 MPs and their Neighborhoods

MPs are influential political figures in their respective areas of jurisdiction. Therefore, they are required to positively engage and take leadership within their communities by encouraging people to allow census staff to administer the census questionnaire. Many MPs live in areas that are classified as hard- to-count. Given their role as ambassadors, it is expected that they will assist in conveying positive messages about the census to those who reside in their neighborhoods who may not have come to fully appreciate the importance of their role in making census a success.

4.7 Information Sessions

MPs will be required to attend an information session on the census so that they are familiar with the importance and content of census information and the schedule of activities that will take place. This will enable them to correctly respond to all public queries and concerns. This could be achieved by organising a special joint sitting of the parliament where all the houses of parliament can be invited and briefed about census. Equipped with proper and accurate information, MPs may assist to get their consistency work as far as Census is concerned captured in all parliamentary newsletters.

4.8 MPs as Messengers

MPs have a responsibility to act as messengers in order to help spread the word about the importance of participating in the Census 2011 in order to assist Census fieldworkers to receive the support they require to count everyone. Without these messages reaching far and wide, there is less possibility of achieving a better census. In addition, MPs should avail themselves for activities that promote the

6 census in their areas as and when they are requested. These include, but not limited to, public discussions, radio and television interviews.

4.9 MPs as members of Portfolio Committees

Many MPs are members of many Portfolio Committees while others are Chief Whips of their political parties. MPs must make it part of their role to remind their counterpart in these settings to support census, however, they should also report back on any census issues from their representative communities that require attention.

5. Conclusion

With limited resources, all advocacy efforts are centred on seeking solutions to problems that will help to deal with the undercount. For MPs, this automatically translates into seeking solutions into full participation using both political and policy platforms with an aim of ensuring that South Africa has a truly citizen-centred census. In this way, the role of MPs has been flagged as one of the most critical aspects of the census campaign and it is hoped that the above guidelines would assist MPs in caring out the Census 2011 messages to the population.