The Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) are household surveys implemented by countries under the programme developed by the

United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

to provide internationally comparable,

statistically Statistics (from German: ''Statistik'', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, industria ...

rigorous data on the situation of children and

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

. 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 The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenn ...

(MDGs), A World Fit for Children, and other major relevant international commitments. The fourth round, launched in 2009, aimed at 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 UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid t ...

, 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). As of mid-2022, a total of more than 350 surveys have been completed in 119 countries and territories. The MICS is highly comparable to the

Demographic and Health Survey The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program is responsible for collecting and disseminating accurate, nationally representative data on health and population in developing countries. The project is implemented by ICF International and is funded ...

(DHS) and the technical teams developing and supporting the surveys are in close collaboration.

Survey tools

At the core of MICS is the list of indicators. In MICS6 this is a compilation of now 200 distinct indicators (237 counting those requiring sex disaggregate). The list is not inclusive of all standard tabulations produced in a full survey, but forms those that are central to global monitoring by UNICEF and others. The list is a central message in MICS, as no question is asked in the questionnaires without directly contributing to an indicator algorithm or a background variable. Thus, survey-specific additional questions are always suggested to follow the same guidelines: No question should be asked without a clear plan for tabulation of results.

Questionnaires

The MICS

questionnaires A questionnaire is a research instrument that consists of a set of questions (or other types of prompts) for the purpose of gathering information from respondents through survey or statistical study. A research questionnaire is typically a mix o ...

are: * Household, administered to any knowledgeable adult member of the household (in MICS1–MICS3 this was to the head of household). * Women, administered to all eligible women (age 15–49) of the household. * Children under age five, administered to their mothers. If the mother is not listed as a member of the household, a primary caregiver is identified as the respondent to this questionnaire. * As of 2011, a questionnaire for men (age 15–49) has also been developed and is included in the generic set of questionnaires. * As of MICS6, a questionnaire for children age 5–17, administered to the mother of a randomly selected child per household. In MICS, the generic questionnaires include all modules, such that implementers only should remove non-applicable or non-desired modules and questions, e.g. the ITN module in non-malarious countries. The full set of generic modules include:
Household Questionnaire * Household Information Panel * List of Household Members *

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. ...

* Household Characteristics * Social Transfers * Household Energy Use * Insecticide Treated Nets *

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

and

Sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation syste ...

Handwashing Hand washing (or handwashing), also known as hand hygiene, is the act of cleaning one's hands with soap or handwash and water to remove viruses/bacteria/microorganisms, dirt, grease, or other harmful and unwanted substances stuck to the hands ...

* Salt Iodisation * Water Quality (a module, but designed as a separate questionnaire, due to sub-sample selection) Individual Questionnaire for Women * Woman's Information Panel * Woman's Background *

Mass Media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informatio ...

and

ICT ICT may refer to: Sciences and technology * Information and communications technology * Image Constraint Token, in video processing * Immunochromatographic test, a rapid immunoassay used to detect diseases such as anthrax * In-circuit test, in ...

* Fertility/Birth History ( Mortality) * Desire for Last

Birth Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the ...

Maternal ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

and

Newborn An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

Health * Post-Natal Health Checks *

Contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

* Unmet Need * Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting * Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence *

Victimization Victimisation ( or victimization) is the process of being victimised or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimisation is called victimology. Peer victimisation Peer victimisa ...

Marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

/ Union * Adult Functioning * Sexual Behaviour *

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

Maternal Mortality Maternal death or maternal mortality is defined in slightly different ways by several different health organizations. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal death as the death of a pregnant mother due to complications related to pre ...

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ch ...

and

Alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

Use *

Life Satisfaction Life satisfaction is a measure of a person's well-being, assessed in terms of mood, relationship satisfaction, achieved goals, self-concepts, and self-perceived ability to cope with life. Life satisfaction involves a favorable attitude towards on ...

Questionnaire for Children Under Five * Under-five Child Information Panel * Under-Five's Background * Birth Registration * Early Childhood Development *

Child Discipline Child discipline is the methods used to prevent future unwanted behaviour in children. The word ''discipline'' is defined as imparting knowledge and skill, in other words, to teach. In its most general sense, discipline refers to systematic inst ...

* Child Functioning *

Breastfeeding Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that bre ...

and Dietary Intake * Immunisation *

Anthropometry Anthropometry () refers to the measurement of the human individual. An early tool of physical anthropology, it has been used for identification, for the purposes of understanding human physical variation, in paleoanthropology and in various atte ...

Individual Questionnaire for Men * Man's Information Panel * Man's Background * Access to

and Use of

Fertility Fertility is the capability to produce offspring through reproduction following the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility rate is the average number of children born by a female during her lifetime and is quantified demographically. Ferti ...

* Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence *

/ Union *