Report on site visit to Colombia

Evaluation, attached to a special evaluation (PD-AAJ-293), covers the period 10/78-5/81 and is based on a site visit to the subcontractor, the national statistical office of Colombia (DANE). The 1980 Demographic Survey was administered as scheduled and the introductory and analytical sections of the final report have been drafted and should be published by 8/81 after the data and results are carefully reviewed. DANE staff members are technically competent and experienced in survey work and have been closely monitored by POPLAB/UNC personnel, who have also assisted DANE in using computer software. Sample design and procedures provided by the Colombian Ministry of Health were carefully followed in conducting the survey, and the questionnaire and instructions and manuals for its application were well-designed. Field work was successful largely due to the relatively small number of enumerators assigned to each field supervisor and to well-conceived training programs. DANE is expected to use survey results to revise downward its population estimates and projections. It is recommended that: (1) a program of in-house seminars and workshops be organized for intermediate level DANE staff in order to reduce turnover; (2) POPLAB/UNC make an additional monitoring visit in connection with the review and publication of the final report and provide the DANE with short-term technical consultations in sampling and software application in order to insitutionalize project techniques; and (3) the DANE develop its own sampling frame for future household-survey activities.