Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys

The Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) are household surveys implemented by countries under the programme developed by the United Nations Children's Fund to provide internationally comparable, statistically rigorous data on the situation of children and women. The surveys were first developed in India with the support of UNICEF as part of the Child Survival and Safe Motherhood programme where an "Extended" CES modelled around the Immunization CES Surveys were conceived and conducted at district and state level as part of the CSSM programme launched in 1992. The Extended CES in India included indicators related to Diarrhoea, Vitamin A and Malnutrition in the case of children and Antenatal visits and maternal immunization for mothers. The survey covered 22 indicators. UNICEF in Bangladesh adapted this Extended CES to additional indicators and conducted the first ever MICS for 28 indicators in all 64 districts of Bangladesh in 1993 and published a book 'Progathir Pathey'. India followed suit and added the additional indicators and conducted its own MICS in three different settings - Urban, Rural and Tribal and together were involved in a global meeting at Dhaka in August 1994 to discuss progress and orient UNICEF staff from several countries. There still were lingering doubts and a workshop was held in Geneva in November 1994 involving various UN agencies, UN Statistical Division, LSHTM, CDC and other experts who reviewed progress in India and Bangladesh and together determined that the methodology and sampling is rigorous enough to produce valid estimates for reporting national progress on indicators from the World Summit for Children. The UNICEF Executive Director, Mr. James P. Grant then issued an Executive Directive in November, 1994 urging all regions and country offices in UNICEF to support countries carry out the surveys as part of the reporting on progress against World Summit for Children goals.

The first round of surveys (MICS1) was carried out in over 60 countries in mainly 1995 and 1996 in response to the World Summit for Children and measurement of the mid-decade progress. A second round (MICS2) in 2000 increased the depth of the survey, allowing monitoring of a larger number of globally agreed indicators. A third round (MICS3) started in 2006 and aimed at producing data measuring progress also toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), A World Fit for Children, and other major relevant international commitments. The fourth round, launched in 2009, aimed at having most data collection conducted in 2010, but in reality most MICS4s were implemented in 2011 and even into 2012 and 2013. This represented a scale-up of frequency of MICS from UNICEF, now offering the survey programme on a three-year cycle. The fifth round, launched in 2012, was aimed at offering countries the tools to do the final MDG data collection. In 2016, the sixth round was launched with an effort towards collecting baseline data for the new set of global goals and targets - the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).^[1]

The seventh round was launched in 2023, with a continued focus on the SDGs and adoption of additional complex measurements, such as on mental health, time-use, and others. As of 2024, more than 400 surveys have been completed or confirmed in more than 120 countries and territories.

The MICS is highly comparable to the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and the technical teams developing and supporting the surveys are in close collaboration.^[2] The termination of the DHS program during the week of February 24, 2025 and suspension of USAID funding has the potential to curtail the DHS surveys at country level considerably and the UNICEF supported MICS will be a major source of data from LICs and LMICs in future. The historical data of DHS of over four decades will however be available for use and for comparison and trends.