By Hajaratu S. Bangura
Freetown, August, 2025 – The Ministry of Information and Civic Education has concluded a 2 day workshop on message development and communication strategy for the 2026 Population and Housing Census. The workshop was done in collaboration with Statistics Sierra Leone.
The workshop which was held at the Sierra Palms Hotel on the 30th and 31st July 2025, brought together representatives from the media, civil society, bloggers, communication experts and musicians to put together a compelling publicity and communication strategy for the Census.
In his opening speech on the first day of the workshop, the Minister of Information and Civic Education Chernor Bah emphasized the civic duty behind the census as he highlighted its importance in shaping national development. He called for building trust and inclusivity in census communication, stressing that every Sierra Leonean must be seen, counted and served.
“Historically Census has faced two challenges; people who don’t want to participate and people who don’t trust the results of the Census. Our communication strategy must respond to that, because today people are more aware about the importance of Census.”
He praised the new communication strategy’s focus on governance, creativity and community engagement using diverse platforms like radio, television and social media. He reiterated the significance of accurate data in advancing the country’s future and officially declared the workshop open, setting a promising tone for the December 2026 census.
The second day of the workshop concluded with the Minister facilitating the adoption of inclusive slogans that will resonate nationally, reinforcing the census theme of unity and participation. The 2-day workshop gave participants the chance to review the census communication strategy, work in groups to refine messages, develop targeted communication plans and decide on the official logo of the 2026 census with plans of having subsequent meetings aimed at continuous raising awareness for the 2026 national population housing census.
This collaboration with Statistics Sierra Leone is one of many efforts of the ministry to deepen its civic education and public engagement work across so many sectors.
