Rwanda has considered all citizens living in diaspora for the first time in the national population and housing census unlike before when only diplomats were counted.

Data collection phase for Rwandans living in diaspora started on August 16 and is scheduled to end on September 15 unlike the in-country one which ended on August 30.

There are 14 days to go and according to Sandrine Maziyateke Uwimbabazi, Director of Rwanda Community Abroad (RCA) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MINAFFET), Rwandans living abroad should continue participating in the census because it is important to them and their country.

"The country counts for them and they count for the country and so participating in the census will help the country consider them in national planning,” she said.

"At MINAFFET, we are also developing a Management Information System (MIS) to have a database of Rwandans who live abroad which is important for us as well as the country.”

Uwimbabazi said that they worked with National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) to organise data collection phase for Rwandans who live in diaspora including diplomats as well as foreign diplomats who live in Rwanda.

She said they also worked with all Rwandan embassies, high commissions and leaders of RCA associations to explicate how it will be conducted by using different mediums including shared videos.

"The challenge,” she continued. "Is that when it comes to providing personal information, some people take time to understand, but the more we explain, the less questions we receive about the census.”

Rwandans in diaspora can participate in the census by filing a questionnaire that is found on NISR’s website.

Venant Habarugira, Director of Censuses Department at NISR said that in previous censuses, the institution only enumerated Rwandan diplomats; not all Rwandans who live abroad.

He stressed that Rwandans in diaspora are valuable to the country and are one of the pools of its development hence enumerating them is significant.

Rwanda also has specific initiatives for Rwandans in diaspora including reaching out to remind them about Rwandan values, mobilizing them to visit the country hence using their talents to participate in its development, said Habarugira.

Tackling why NISR extended the date to September 15, he noted that it is to give outreach campaigns enough time.

Following the completion of the national population and housing census on August 30 in the country, NISR will kick off a post enumeration survey in 180 selected enumeration areas across the country on September 16.

The survey will run until September 30 and is aimed to confirm with the main census coverage.