The initiative for an extraordinary session devoted to this subject was taken on November 8, 2020 during the19th ordinary session of the National Statistics Council.
The promulgation on July 20, 2020 of the law governing statistical activity in Cameroon was the culmination of a long process that began in the aftermath of Cameroon’s accession to the African Charter on Statistics in 2016. Therefore, it was necessary to align the legal and regulatory texts in force in Cameroon in the field of statistics with the principles of official statistics, enacted by the said Charter. However, at that time, the 1991 law on surveys and censuses in Cameroon was a quarter of a century old and some of its provisions were on the margins of the new context of statistical production both in Africa and in the rest of the world. The implementing texts, the subject of the second extraordinary session of the National Statistics Council, complete this process of modernization of the legal and regulatory framework for statistical production. A total of three draft texts will be examined by the members of the Council. These are the draft decree setting out the modalities for the application of Law No. 2020/010 of 20 July 2020 governing statistical activity in Cameroon; the draft decree on the organisation and functioning of the National Statistical Council (CNS), resulting from Article 20 of the law and the draft decree setting the conditions for granting the statistical visa, pursuant to the provisions of Article 4 of the law.
The development of these draft texts has been the subject of a consultation extended to the sectoral administrations to ensure the best possible operationalization of this law. The work held on April 15, 2021 at the Mont Febe Hotel in Yaoundé will result in the validation and transmission of the said texts to the Prime Minister for signature.