The Center for Demography and Sustainable Development (CDSD) of Fok Ying Tung Graduate School at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) recently completed a special training on Census Data Analyses for selected officials from the Central Bureau of Statistics, Pyongyang, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK). The training was under the direction of Professor John Ma, Associate Professor and Director of the Center and Dr. Yun Kim, Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Utah State University, USA, and Senior Population Scientist at the Center and it was fully financed by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA).
The training participants were selected among the officials responsible for planning and undertaking 2008 Census of Population and Housing and they were nominated by DPRK government and approved by UNFPA. The participants included Mr. Kondo Kim, Director General of Population and Labor Statistics, the Delegation Leader, Mr. Yong Mu Ri, Kyong Suk Jang, Chan Mi Yu, and Mr. Yong Nam Paik, all from the Central Statistics Bureau.
The training started at the Information Technology Park in Nansha, China on April 7 and the closing ceremony was held at the HKUST main campus at Clear Water Bay, Kowloon on April 30 after the second part of training at the main campus. The training mainly focused on the review of draft census questionnaires and data tabulation plans, evaluation of census and other sources of population data, Post Census Enumeration Survey, descriptive data analyses, and detailed data analyses. Particular emphasis was given to the dissemination of the census data and uses of census data for policy making and social, economic, regional, and other development program formulations.
During the training, additional follow up training workshops and collaborative research between the Central Bureau of Statistics, DPRK and CDSD-HKUST was also discussed. This training was the second UNFPA sponsored training workshop followed by the last one held in November-December, 2007 for the staff of Population Center of DPRK. According to the evaluations of the training participants, the CDSD trainings were very highly rated and they learned many valuable knowledge and information that they came for. They also indicated that they thoroughly enjoyed their experiences in Hong Kong and Nansha and looking forward to the future cooperation with HKUST.
For media enquiries, please feel free to contact :
Luk Kam Wing
Tel: 2358 6306
Email: kluk@ust.hk
Donna Wong
Tel: 2358 6317
Email: donnaw@ust.hk
