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Manicaland Correspondent
The multiple indicator cluster survey (MICS) being conducted by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) in Manicaland has been progressing well and results are expected to be released sooner than previously expected.

The programme started on January 5 this year and it has since been rolled out in Zimunya-Marange and Mutasa districts.

Zimstat MICS co-ordinator Mr Handrick Chigiji said they were expecting to produce the final report earlier than previous years since the system which they are using would cut time on data capturing.

“The system which we are using will cut time on data capturing, hence it will enable the report to be produced in a short space of time as compared to the previous years when we used to take nine months to come up with a final report,” he said.

Mr Chigiji revealed that the 2019 survey was based on a sample of households, representative at provincial and district levels.

“So far we are in Zimunya-Marange and Mutasa districts,” he said. “We will soon spread into the whole province. People are giving us enough data and responding well to our questionnaires.”

ZimStat social statistics division director Ms Taizivei Mungate said the survey would focus on socio-economic data on health, education, child protection, water and sanitation, HIV/Aids and human capital and well-being.

MICS is an international household survey programme developed and supported by UNICEF.

“This time there are a lot of activities which are going to contribute into Vision 2030 developments goals,” said Ms Mungate. “We expect the country to use the data in improving the lives of people in Zimbabwe.

“We are mainly focusing on economic data on health which is affecting rural and urban people.”

Ms Mungate said they would be checking on efficiency of the MICS during the surveys and they were expecting to send the results to head office on a daily basis for analysis.