On November 23, 2022, at 15:00, a press conference was held at the National Press Center of Tashkent on the topic “The Importance of Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys Conducted to Assess the Condition of Children and Women at the International Level” held by the State Committee on Statistics and the representative office of the International Children's Fund United Nations UNICEF in Uzbekistan.
The event was attended by representatives of the central office of the State Committee on Statistics, UNICEF, international experts in this field, heads of relevant ministries and departments, as well as representatives of the media.
As noted at the press conference, in order to ensure the implementation of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PP-4273 dated April 9, 2019 “On additional measures to ensure openness and transparency of public administration, as well as to increase the statistical potential of the country”, as well as assessing the condition of children and women in the country at the international level, in accordance with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 625 of July 24, 2019, in 2020-2021 it was planned to conduct Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys is an international household sampling program developed by the United Nations International Children's Fund UNICEF that collects data on several indicators, mainly to assess the situation of children and women, and is the world's largest source of statistics on mothers and children.
MICS surveys were conducted 349 times in 118 countries around the world from 1995 to 2022. These surveys include important statistics such as maternal and child health, women's reproductive health, children's rights and educational attainment, and children's health and physical development.
Conducting Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) in the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2021-2022 is organized in cooperation with the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics and the representative office of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Uzbekistan. The State Committee on Statistics is designated as the authorized state body to conduct the survey.
The MICS survey in the Republic of Uzbekistan was conducted more than 15 years ago, over the past years, large-scale reforms have been carried out aimed at protecting the rights of women and children, ensuring gender equality, improving the status of women in society, creating the necessary conditions for the development of children in the country, which made it possible to update information in accordance with international recommendations and provide users with reliable, complete and up-to-date information. indicates that statistical data should be provided.
The main purpose of the MICS survey is to compare the results of a survey of women aged 15 to 49, specific data on children under the age of 5 received from their mothers or guardians, all data collected by the standard of living of the population, place of residence (urban or rural) and gender, internationally by country.
The indicators generated from the results of the survey cover 40% of the indicator of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the household. This, in turn, will help improve the performance of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the World Bank's Statistical Capacity Index and other international rankings.
During the survey, data were collected in 556 mahallas, selected in the Republic of Uzbekistan, through personal interviews with respondents in the field, filling out questionnaires electronically on tablets.
The data generated by the MICS results are posted on the official website of the State Committee on Statistics (www.stat.uz) and on the UNICEF website (www.mics.unicef.org). Based on the results of the survey, a statistical review was prepared and published.
In surveyed households, 3% of children do not live with their biological parents. 23% of households are run by women.
Analysis of infant mortality: the under-five mortality rate is 25 per 1,000 births. This figure was 57 in the results of the MICS conducted in 2006.
As noted above, over the past 15 years, there has been a downward trend in the mortality rate among infants and children under the age of five years.
The total fertility rate is 3.3 children per woman. During prenatal care, 90% of women were seen at least four times by a qualified health care provider, and 98% at least two times. 99% of births were carried out in public health facilities with the participation of qualified medical personnel.
21% of births were performed using caesarean section. Higher rates, that is, 24%, are observed in the relatively rich strata compared to 19% in the relatively poor strata.
Feeding at an early age, including breastfeeding: 40% of women have been observed to breastfeed their babies within an hour of giving birth. Survey results show that only one out of every four babies (25%) was exclusively breastfed before 6 months of age.
7% of children under the age of 5 are stunted. This indicator has decreased two times in comparison with the result of 2006 (14.6%). Also, this figure is the lowest among the CIS countries.
The indicator of malnutrition was also noted within the biological norm. Malnutrition occurs in 2% of children under 5 years of age. There is a decrease in comparison with the results of 2006 (5.1%).
Overweight is observed in 5% of children under 5 years of age (boys 5%, girls 4%). In the 2006 MICS survey, this figure was 7%.
46% of children aged 3-4 participated in early education programs. This indicator represents the result at the time of the survey. At this stage, an improvement of 2.3 times compared to the results of 2006 (19.7%) can be observed.
96% of children aged 2-4 years showed normal development in terms of health, education and psychology. This is one of the highest rates in the CIS region.
72% of children aged 7-14 who go to school and do their homework receive help from their parents. However, younger children are helped more often than older children.
At the end of the press conference, detailed answers were provided to journalists' questions by the staff of the State Committee on Statistics and representatives of UNICEF.
Press Service