Care for women and children in need – MICS survey – UNICEF press release (excerpts)

Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey results begin to roll in worldwide

Fourth round of international survey quantifies needs in developing nations

NEW YORK, USA, 14 February 2011 – The first country to launch the fourth round of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey – or MICS 4 – in November 2009, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, was also the first to complete survey field work, to enter, process and analyze the data, and to release a final report – which can be found at childinfo.org.

On the other side of the world, MICS 4 interviewers from Cuba just finished criss-crossing that island nation on the way to implementing the survey. Their colleagues are now entering the data, and final results should be available by the end of February, with report writing to follow. Meanwhile, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea-Bissau, work is on the way to complete MICS 4 final reports. Both countries were the first to release preliminary findings under the current survey.

Such scenarios are being repeated across the 40 or so remaining countries participating into MICS4. Information from these surveys will help countries provide better care for children and women in need. It will also offer a more accurate picture of the progress made so far toward national goals and global commitments – including the Millennium Development Goals.

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Overcrowded in Gaza

In far different conditions, MICS interviewer Tasaheel Al-Shorbaji braves the heat and humidity in the tiny alleyways of Khan Yunis refugee camp south of Gaza City in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. She is trying to find the next house on her list.

The camp houses are so crowded they seem to be stacked on top of each other, and it is very difficult to identify one from another. Finally, Ms. Al-Shorbaji spots the house and knocks on its makeshift scrap metal door. An elderly woman answers the doors. Ms. Al-Shorbaji introduces herself as a UNICEF MICS interviewer and is welcomed in.

She is one of 60 enthusiastic interviewers collecting data to cover Gaza’s MICS sample of 5,400 households.

“It is such a unique and challenging environment to conduct the survey in,” says the chief of the UNICEF Gaza Field Office, Diane Araki. “In Gaza, about 1.5 million inhabitants live in a tiny strip of land of approximately 360 square kilometres. On top of that, Gaza has been devastated by many conflicts, the last of which was military operation Cast Lead, which resulted in a high number of casualties and major infrastructural damages.”

Survey brings benefits

The survey covers a wide variety of topics, such as child survival and health, child nutrition, maternal health, newborn care, water and sanitation, education, child protection and HIV/AIDS. It also probes life satisfaction, tobacco use and access to mass media and information and communication technology.

One Gaza resident named Fatima says she is happy to answer the interviewer’s questions.

“In my community, we are not accustomed to giving such information to strangers,” she notes. “My husband was against the idea to begin with. The interviewers took the time to tell me all about this survey, which made me realize the overall benefit this survey will bring to myself and my children.”

Determined move forward

In the north of Gaza, MICS interviewer Warda Shabat rides a taxi to a conflict-affected area. She reaches her destination after a 45-minute trip on a bumpy road, only to find out that some houses on her address list no longer exist. They were destroyed during the last conflict.

“I looked for a house on my list, but it was not there anymore,” she says. “Then I asked the neighbours about the family that lived in it. They told me that they had moved.”

For Ms. Shabat, it is a very emotional situation. Nevertheless, she is determined move forward. “In such a case,” she says, “I just record it as ‘household destroyed.’”