Following the appearance in the online environment of video recordings through which fakes are spread in society about the census, including the purpose of this exercise and the activity of the census staff, and calls are made not to participate in the census, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports the following.

The population and housing census (PHC) of the Republic of Moldova is carried out between 8 April and 7 July 2024 in accordance with the provisions of Law No 231/2022 on population and housing censuses, Government Decision No 69/2024 and Government Decision No 951/2022. It is carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations, according to which the States of the world must carry out population censuses at least every 10 years. The 2024 Moldovan LPL takes place 10 years after the previous census (in 2014) and is the last year of the 2020 world round of international censuses (covering the years 2015-2024).

In accordance with Article 5 of Law No 231/2022, the objective of the census is to produce, under conditions of international quality and comparability, official national statistics in the form of statistical indicators on: the number and territorial distribution of the population at the lowest territorial level; demographic structure and socio-economic characteristics; households, housing, the living conditions of the population and the buildings in which their homes are situated.

Census questionnaires were developed and approved following an extensive public consultation process that lasted more than 1 year. A series of round tables, bilateral meetings were organised with representatives of civil society, such as ethno-cultural associations, the Alliance of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities, organisations working in the field of human rights protection, etc. More than 100 proposals were collected during the consultation of the questionnaires, which were thoroughly analysed and taken into account when finalising the RPL toolkit.

Thus, contrary to the forgeries in some video posts, the questionnaires for the 2024 census, as in the case of the previous 2014 census, do NOT contain questions about wealth, earnings, bank cards, debts, collections, legacies, accounts, companies, goods in the possession of citizens.

In order to ensure a good understanding of the census questionnaires by representatives of different ethno-cultural groups and their information from the first source, the questionnaires have been developed and are available in Romanian, Russian, Gagauz, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Romani.

Regrettably, some video recordings of the activity of the censors were made and disseminated, which defamed in bad faith and slandered the activity of the censors and of the 2024 census in general, fuelling the unjustified fears of the population to participate in the census and thus hindering its proper conduct.

It is out of the ordinary and reprehensible case of video recording of the census interview discreetly offered to the censor by the respondent, recorded in secret, without their knowledge and consent. Moreover, after the intervention of the third person in the interview process, the respondent and the enumerators are forced to leave the interview site, being addressed unfounded accusations, with the tinge of harassment.

We mention that enumerators and supervisors employed as authorized personnel contracted by the National Bureau of Statistics have a key role in the process of collecting census data in the field, visiting each dwelling within the census sector assigned to them, in order to ensure that every apartment, house and every person living in them is censused, in the manner established by the legislation.

We would point out that, in accordance with Article 7(2)(c) of Law No 231/2022, respondents and other persons subject to the census are required to respect and not obstruct the work of the census staff.

Defamation and slander is apparently carried out by some alleged public activists who make unmotivated and unjustified assumptions about the census, which aim to generate fear and ambiguity among society, to detract from the importance and image of the census and to endanger its proper conduct.

In view of these serious slippages, the NBS notified the relevant bodies to verify and counter illegal practices, which are carried out through social media platforms, apparently from fake profiles.

In this context, we call on the population to be more cautious in choosing sources of information, giving priority to trustworthy sources and not to fall prey to falsehoods and myths about the census, as well as not to spread them.

We also call on the population to be lenient and benevolent with census enumerators, who have a very important task and work, responsible, but also extremely demanding both in terms of physical efforts needed to visit (in many cases repeatedly) each house, home, but also emotionally, multiple daily interviews with various people being conducted.

We thank everyone who have already been enumerated, providing correct answers to the questions in the census questionnaire!

We greatly appreciate and thank the census enumerators and staff for their assiduous and extremely important work in collecting census data.

We urge the population to obtain information from official and reliable sources, in particular from the official website of the National Bureau of Statistics www.statistica.gov.md/RPL2024, in order to be as accurately informed as possible, and to participate in the census, providing complete answers that correspond to reality.

The answers to frequently asked questions and the fight against various falsehoods and myths can be found on the official website of the NBS, on the FAQ page .

We remind that if there are any concerns or concerns about the census, the population can call the Green Line of RPL 0 800 800 24 (free call), write to the e-mail address rpl2024@statistica.gov.md or in the chat on the census page www.statistica.gov.md/RPL2024.