Survey on women and child affairs in progress

Survey on women and child affairs in progress
Oman Daily Observer
Sun, 18 September 2011

By Maryam Khalfan - MUSCAT — A Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) that is aimed at designing a survey on implementation of national and global commitments related to women and child issues was opened at the City Seasons Hotel yesterday. Dr AbdulMalik bin Abdullah al Hinai, Adviser, Directorate-General of Social Statistics, presided at the launch of the five-day workshop which has captivated the participation of officials from the GCC and other Arab states.

The MICS, the fourth of its kind, will explore the importance of monitoring progress towards the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), World Fit For Children (WFFC) and others. The discussions will also focus on the importance and aspects related to reporting on development needs on the global, regional and country levels among other topics of concern.

In his remarks on the occasion, Al Hinai stressed on the importance of this seminar, which particularly indicates the intensity at which statistics has progressed in the Sultanate. “The fact that we have participants from different countries from the region and the participation of experts from the United Nations and the Unicef is an indication of the significance of statistics as a vital tool on development. I am sure that, by the end of the workshop, participants will attain a lot of knowledge for them to practise and implement it in different ministries and organisations they represent. I urge the participants to grasp and benefit from the resourceful information and experiences of other experts”, he said.

Dr Pierre Ngom, Regional Chief of Monitoring and Evaluation, Unicef, Regional Office, Jordan, highlighted the importance of the information age – an indication that reflects on the strong actions, policies and programmes based on quality information, which depends on good data. “Unicef is supporting countries all over the world to collect good data on children and women through the MICS programme. This programme has established technical manuals and expertise to support the programme”, affirmed the official.

In this context, the MICS will play a significant role in aiding the progress of the MDGs especially in aspects related to women and child affairs, which are one of Unicef’s major areas of focus, said Dr Pierre. Dr Leila Lad, Unicef Representative to the Sultanate, said: “The purpose of this workshop is to provide technical support to countries in designing the MICS based on the respective country’s needs. The MICS identifies diverse country frames and modules that have been agreed upon.

“The workshop is being held with the support and expertise provided by the Regional Office of the Unicef, Middle East and North Africa Region as well as the support of the United Nations headquarters. It is indeed, the team effort that brings together entities between the Unicef and a number of countries that will be implementing the MICS. This MICS is significantly important because it provides timely and accurate data on the situation of women and children. It is used as a guidance tool and for informed decision making as well as for monitoring the progress of women and children in diverse affairs”, she said.

“We are indeed grateful for the support of the Government of Oman for hosting this event and for its initiative to lobby for implementation of the MISC progress in 2010” she said. Khalifa bin Abdullah al Barwani, Director-General, Social Statistics, said: In essence of the MICS related to child and women affairs, “we are planning to design and structure the survey with questionnaires, which will be used in the study. The survey will benefit the community in different social indicators such as the health, education, labour and the housing among other social indicators”.

Besides, the outcome of the survey will help and guide planners on the most appropriate approach to mend the gap of survey especially in issues related to women and children. The results of this technical survey will be utilised by the countries of the region to monitor their progress towards national objectives and global commitments including the MDGs, which is targeted to be achieved by 2015, noted Al Barwani.