1. Round of Population and Housing Censuses Journey

The inaugural objective of the ASSD was to strengthen collaboration in the mobilisation of African countries to conduct population censuses in the 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses (RPHCs).The first six ASSDs focused on the 2010 RPHCs in the period 2006–2010, and took place as follows:

• 1^st ASSD, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA, 2006: “The 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses”
• 2^nd ASSD, KIGALI, RWANDA, 2007: “Towards a Complete Enumeration of the African Population during the 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses”
• 3^rd ASSD, ACCRA, GHANA, 2008: “Best Practice and Exchanging Experience: Africa 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses”
• 4^TH ASSD, LUANDA, ANGOLA, 2009: “Data Processing and Use of Census Data: The 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses”
• 5^th ASSD, DAKAR, SENEGAL, 2009: “Information and Communication Technology in Data Dissemination: Bringing Suppliers and Users Closer in the 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses”
• 6^TH ASSD, CAIRO, EGYPT, 2010: “Data Analysis and Use in the 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses”

2. Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Journey

Realising that the inaugural mandate of the ASSD had almost been accomplished, with over 20 countries having already undertaken a census and most of the remaining ones having made concrete commitments to do so, the Heads of National Statistics Offices adopted a resolution at the 6^th ASSD held in Cairo, Egypt to change gears and shift focus from RPHCs to addressing the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) problem bedeviling the continent as per a call for action by the Ministers responsible for civil registration in Africa. It was then decided that the 7^th to the 11^th ASSDs would focus on CRVS under the following proposed themes:

• 2011: Improving CRVS Institutional and Human Infrastructure in Africa
• 2012: Standardisation of Causes of Death Classification and Statistics in Africa
• 2013: Promoting Use of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Support of Advancing Good Governance in Africa
• 2014: Evaluating the Application of UN Principles and Recommendations on CRVS in the African Region
• 2015: Promoting the Use of Information Technology Solutions in Improving CRVS in Africa.

To this effect, the 7^thand 8^th ASSDs were hosted as follows:

• 7^TH ASSD, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA,2012:”Africa Programme on Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems: Improving Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Institutional and Human Infrastructure in Africa”
• 8^th ASSD, Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, 2012: “Standardisation of Causes of Death Classification and Statistics in Africa”

The 9^th ASSD will be hosted in Gaborone, Botswana from 17^th to 21^st February 2014 under the theme: Promoting Use of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Support of Good Governance”.