In 1998, UNICEF embarked on a process of helping countries assess progress for children at end-decade in relation to the World Summit for Children goals (New York, 1990).
The list of global indicators being used to assess progress at end-decade was developed through extensive consultation, both within UNICEF, particularly with Programme Division and the Regional Offices, and with WHO, UNESCO and the ILO. The global indicator list can be found in Annex 1 of the Executive Directive EXD/1999-03 dated 23 April 1999.
Mid decade experience
There are numerous sources of data for measuring progress at country level, but many either do not function well enough to give current and quality data, or do not provide the data required for assessing progress. Household surveys are capable of filling many of these data gaps. The mid-decade assessment led to 100 countries collecting data using the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), household surveys developed to obtain specific mid-decade data, or via MICS questionnaire modules carried by other surveys. By 1996, 60 developing countries had carried out stand-alone MICS, and another 40 had incorporated some of the MICS modules into other surveys. The mid-decade questionnaire and manual, the countries where a standalone MICS was implemented.
The end-decade assessment
The end-decade MICS questionnaire and manual have been developed specifically to obtain the data for 63 of the 75 end-decade indicators. These draw heavily on experiences with the mid-decade MICS and the subsequent MICS evaluation. The content is organized into question modules, for countries to adopt or omit according to the data already available. The development of the end-decade MICS questionnaire and manual has drawn on an even wider spread of organizations than the mid-decade MICS. They include WHO, UNESCO, ILO, UNAIDS, the United Nations Statistical Division, CDC Atlanta, MEASURE (USAID), Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and others.
MICS is a rapid survey method developed by UNICEF in cooperation with other international organizations. In Indonesia, MICS was first conducted in 1995 under the name of Mother and Child Health Survey (SKIA); it aimed at providing some of the data, which was unavailable to meet the requirements of the mid-decade report (Mid-decade Goals/MDG). MICS 2000 was conducted under the name of Mother and Child Education and Health Survey (SPKIA). It aimed at providing new data/indicators, since data was unavailable from existing sources.
Kind of Data
Sample survey data [ssd]
Unit of Analysis
Households, Women, Children.
Data downloaded from MICS2 website (www.childinfo.org) on May 24, 2011
The sample aimed to produce national-level estimates which are disaggregated between urban and rural areas.
Producers and sponsors
Badan Pusat Statistik
Ministry of Health
Unitred Nations Children's Fund
United Nations's Children's Fund
The sample size of the 2000 SPKIA was 10,000 households, and the results were only representative at the national level. Results were disaggregated for urban and rural areas. The sample selection was identical to the sampling design applied in the the 2000 Susenas using a threestage sampling design.
Dataset available free of charge to registered users (www.childinfo.org).
MICS2 has put greater efforts in not only properly documenting the results published in the MICS2 country reports, but also to maximize the use of micro data sets via documentation and dissemination. For those MICS2 countries that granted UNICEF direct access to the micro data sets and documentation, a rigorous process was completed to ensure internal and external consistency, basic standards of data quality, corresponding documentation and, standardization of variable and value labels across countries.
Use of the dataset must be acknowledged using a citation which would include:
- the Identification of the Primary Investigator
- the title of the survey (including country, acronym and year of implementation)
- the survey reference number
- the source and date of download of the data files (for datasets obtained on-line)
Disclaimer and copyrights
The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.