A Message From Our International Programs Center Chief
Warm greetings to readers of the International Programs Center newsletter. We would like to highlight some recent engagements and products since the last issue as the end of 2024 gets closer and we begin looking forward to 2025.
We are excited to share that IPC has released an R-based version of Demographic Analysis and Population Projection System (DAPPS), along with new versions of the Tool for Assessing Pilot Electronic Censuses (TAPEC) and several Select Topics in International Censuses (STICs). You’ll also find information on ongoing capacity support for countries conducting their census in this issue. Additionally, our active Aging Research Program has produced two publications exploring COVID-19 impacts and mental health. We invite you to read the newsletter for more information on these exciting new and ongoing activities.
-Oliver P. Fischer
Oliver Fischer presenting at the 32nd Population Census Conference, Ulaanbaatar Mongolia (August 2024).
 Technical Assistance
An Out of Ordinary Mission: Uzbekistan
This summer, IPC staff visited Tashkent and Jizzakh to support a unique group of partners — two nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) focused on preventing human trafficking and domestic violence in Uzbekistan: Istiqboli Avlod and Istiqlol Avlodi.
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The IPC team strengthened the NGOs' capacity by improving their database management skills, helping them analyze data and create impactful visualizations to better tell their stories. The assistance also resulted in saving the NGOs many months of data entry time by automating the data compilation process. This capacity strengthening will impact the speed at which the NGOs can respond to help for trafficking in-person victims, as well as their evidence-based advocacy skills for future funding.
Both organizations appreciated the training, as it directly addressed key skill gaps they were eager to apply in their work.
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⚙️ Data Tool Updates
DAPPS
The Demographic Analysis and Population Projection System (DAPPS) software version 4.0 was released in July. The DAPPS user interface went through a complete redesign and modernization with an updated back end that uses R as the processing engine. Some of the new features include:
- Over 20 analytic methods to estimate, evaluate, or adjust population, fertility, mortality, and migration data
- Cohort-component population projection method: A trusted and reliable method for producing population projections
- Subnational Projections Toolkit: Prepare subnational population projections using cohort-component or mathematical extrapolation methods
- Crisis deaths: Special treatment of crisis deaths in the projection process
TAPEC
The U.S. Census Bureau's Tool for Assessing Pilot Electronic Censuses (TAPEC) is a comprehensive assessment tool designed for national statistical offices (NSOs) to evaluate and document an electronic pilot census of population and housing. The primary objective of the TAPEC is to systematically assess pilot electronic censuses and assist NSOs in identifying critical issues to address before the execution of the full census.
📌 New Resources
International Population Vulnerability and Resilience: New Subnational Methodology!
This paper proposes a methodology for a subnational index measuring social resilience to environmental hazards and gives an analytical example showing how this social resilience index may be used.
Measuring Subnational Resilience in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries
Courses
Estimating Pregnancy-Related and Maternal Mortality from Census Data
In collaboration with the Department of International Health from the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, IPC staff created this course aiming to increase in-country technical capacity to collect, analyze, and interpret data on pregnancy-related and maternal deaths.
Select Topics in International Censuses
New Select Topics in International Censuses (STICs) available in Arabic
By the end of July, 35 technical notes translated to Arabic were released. The STICs highlight new subjects, methods, and operations relevant to census planners in middle- to low-income countries. The topics range from planning and management, mapping, and field operations to data processing among others for a total of seven categories.
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Select Topics in International Population and Health
The Components of Demographic Change: When Does Each Matter Most?
The dynamics among these components interact through a basic accounting system called the demographic balancing equation. Although these basic features of population change are readily understood, this STIPH analyzes which one most affects the population change.
Tutorial Videos
Five tutorial videos are now available for DAPPS. Learn the basics from installation and uploading input files to running projections in a few steps.
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📰 Publications
New Data Visualization Reveals Changes in Ways Older Adults Lived and Worked Before and in the Aftermath of the Pandemic
In September, IPC's Aging Research Program released an America Counts story, How COVID-19 Changed Older Adults' Work and Lifestyle. The story highlights an interactive data visualization dashboard on how the lifestyle and work of older adults changed before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
 The interactive data visualization (above) sponsored by the National Institute on Aging's Division of Behavioral and Social Research was a Census Bureau cross division collaboration.
Mental Health Struggles Among Older Adults During the Pandemic
What started as an analysis presented at last year's annual Population Association of America meeting developed into this story, sponsored by the National Institute on Aging’s Division of Behavioral and Social Research.
Older adults experienced fewer mental health challenges than younger adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, but new research shows anxiety and depression levels among those 65 and older varied depending on their demographic characteristics and economic well-being.
Helping El Salvador Conduct Its First Census in 17 Years
On World Population Day, IPC released the America Counts story, Helping El Salvador Conduct Its First Census in 17 Years, highlighting the technical assistance to El Salvador during the last two years. The story was published in two languages (English and Spanish) and was the second most read America Counts story in July.
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Looking Forward
▶️ International Database update coming this fall
▶️ HIV/AIDS Review and Verification System dashboard
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