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Merit rewarded!
A Lieutenant General is a strategist. He is the mastermind of a war operation. However, a General may be wise, intelligent, proactive and cunning, but if he does not have well-trained men and women who are under orders, he will lose the war. This is the case with military life as well as with civilian life. The performance of the head of an administration is measured by the efficiency of his employees. The Prefect of Mfoundi, Mr. Emmanuel Mariel DJIKDENT had two successive opportunities to see this for himself. When he came to reward the deserving staff of the National Institute of Statistics (INS), by awarding them gold, vermeil and silver medals. Beyond the prestige and honors that these distinctions carry, it remains that it is the recognition of the work well done that these staff do on a daily basis to make the INS shine. Behind the results of business censuses, economic notes on inflation, foreign trade, etc., hide little hands who sacrifice themselves, on a daily basis, to serve the Nation. It was fashionable to express the gratitude of the top management and that of the
the Republic. It is not a question of gratitude that encourages us to bask on our laurels; But it is a recognition that has the effect of fuel and pushes us to action. I therefore invite the staff of the National Institute of Statistics to work harder to raise the image and reputation of the INS as a reference institute in terms of statistical production.
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A turn of events!
The year 2020 began with great hopes and great projects: the hope that Cameroon’s National Development Strategy for 2030 will be implemented, the hope that growth will be restored according to the forecasts of the DSCE and the hope that progress towards the emergence of the country will be greater through the improvement of health care, the increase in the employment rate, the fall in food prices, etc. At the INS, major projects were waiting to be carried out, including the revision of the SNDS2 and the development of the SNDS3 aligned with the SNDC30, the launch of the third Survey on Employment and the Informal Sector, and the fifth Cameroonian Household Survey, the third General Business Census, the support of decentralized local authorities for the development of a statistical database, etc.
Even though the teams were already deployed on the ground and others were preparing to go there, a dramatic turn of events! Here comes the Corona Virus Desease 2019 (COVID-19). The first case was recorded on 6 March 2020, at the very beginning of the implementation period of the budget year in Cameroon. The immediate consequence was the freezing of budget commitment procedures due to the psychosis caused by this great unknown in our environment. Circumspection, social distancing were born and with them, the gradual wearing of protective masks. The Anti-Covid Response Plan announced by the Head of State and implemented by the Head of Government started on March 17, 2020 through the entry into force of thirteen barrier measures. The course of the struggle thus set, the General Management of the INS has aligned. During an emergency coordination meeting, the government measures were reiterated to the various officials and practical provisions were immediately applied, namely, the prohibition of access to any visitor to the INS premises both in the central services and in the decentralised services for the duration of the pandemic, the installation of a tap water tank and soap for hand washing, the systematic temperature taking of staff admitted to the INS premises using an infrared thermometer, the distribution of hydroalcoholic solutions. At the same time, the General Management has recommended that its staff work from home and suspend face-to-face meetings whose agenda can be processed remotely. All field investigations have been suspended. The consequence of this pandemic on Cameroonian statistics is enormous and can be assessed in terms of the slowdown in statistical activity, the relative availability of data essential for decision-making, but also in terms of youth unemployment for an indefinite period.
Beyond any catastrophism, today and in a more incisive way, statistics have demonstrated their role as a
public pathfinder
in society. Figures were needed to measure the extent of the disease as well as to assess its regression. Data will also be needed to assess the impact of this pandemic on our society and our economy. In the midst of the suffering and fear of an uncertain tomorrow, statistics will once again enlighten decision-makers so that this epidemic becomes a bad memory.
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