The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) presented the 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) final report on Thursday 19 March 2015 in Harare.
The survey was carried out in 2014 as part of the global MICS program that was developed by UNICEF in the 1990s as an international household survey to support countries in the collection of internationally comparable data on the wide range of indicators on the situation of children and women.
While addressing the launch, Mutasa Dzinotizei the Director General of ZIMSTAT said that his organisation is mandated under the Census and Statistics Act of 2007 to produce and disseminate a wide range of official statistics.
“To be relevant, ZIMSTAT’s programs are demand driven and as such, some of the surveys answer to the data needs of the Zimbabwe United Nations Development Assistance Framework (ZUNDAF). The 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey is one such survey which had to be carried out during the period 2012 to 2015,” said Dzinotizei.
Dzinotizei said that a customised version of MICS known as the Multiple Indicator Monitoring Survey was conducted in Zimbabwe for the first time in 2009, “The survey was carried out at a time Zimbabwe had faced multiple data gaps due to the economic challenges prevailing then.”
The ZIMSTAT director general said that preparation of the report was started in October 2013 where the indicators for the 2014 MICS, terms of reference for the steering and technical committees were adopted and agreed upon. He explained that the survey was composed of four questionnaires namely household for all persons and household characteristics, women’s questionnaire for women aged between 15 and 49 years, under-five for children under five years and the man’s questionnaire for men between the ages of 15 and 54 years.
“It is also important to note that the results for the MICS come at a critical time for 2015 MDG (Millenium Development Goals) reporting as well as assessing the current ZUNDAF cycle. The results are also useful in assessing the socio-economic impact of the Transition Funds that were availed to the Government of Zimbabwe by various development partners. They will also be useful as baselines for the next ZUNDAF cycle, ZIMASSET as well as the UN Post 2015 targets,” added Dzinotizei.
The UNICEF acting representative in Zimbabwe Dr Jane Muita said that the 2014 MICS survey shows that things have been improving since 2009.
“The massive outbreak of cholera in 2008 affected over 100, 000 people and killed 4,000 and the measles outbreak of 2009 and 2010 affected over 10,544 with over 520 deaths were testimony to the status of the social service system and a wake-up call for everyone,” said Dr Muita.
“When we compare the situation in 2009, when the social services were in a state of near collapse, with where we are now, we can see a very clear change for the better. Under-five mortality has declined from 94 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2009 to 75 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2014,” added Dr Muita.
Dr Muita also noted that the country’s maternal mortality ratio in 2014 stood at 614 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to 960 per 100,000 live births recorded by the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey between 2003 and 2010.
“In education, secondary school attendance has gone up from 44.8% in 2009 to 57% in 2014. The government, development partners, UN agencies, the civil society, and others have worked hard in the last five years to get the systems up and running again, to build up human resources and to restore service delivery,” said Dr Muita.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Gerald Gwinji who was the guest of honour, commended UNICEF for providing funding for the survey and said that the 2014 MICS’ findings will go a long way in assisting government with policy formulation.
DOWNLOAD the complete Report: 2014 MICS Key Findings Report
