As the world grapples with the spread of COVID-19, UNFPA must ad- dress the implications of the outbreak on preparations and implementa- tion of the 2020 census round. With 150 countries (including 85 UNFPA programme countries) scheduled to conduct census enumeration in 2020 and 2021, the potential disruption of the 2020 census round could be significant.

The COVID-19 pandemic will threaten the successful conduct of censuses in many countries through delays, interruptions that compro- mise quality, or complete cancellation of census projects. Domestic and donor financing for census may be diverted to address COVID-19 leaving census without crucial funds. Several countries have already taken deci- sions to postpone the census, with many others yet to announce the way forward.