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Acknowledgements
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has mandated the Central Statistics
Organization (CSO) to collect data in order to provide strong evidence for equity-based planning
and programming, as well as to monitor progress on the implementation of international
conventions. The CSO, in collaboration with UNICEF, conducted the Afghanistan Multiple
Indicator Survey (AMICS), which began in October 2010 and concluded in May 2011.
The CSO collaborated with the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Education, and other
government stakeholders to successfully complete the survey. Staff from the CSO and UNICEF, as
well as many others from various government agencies, UN programs and other partners took
part in conducting this AMICS. We greatly appreciate the support demonstrated by the relevant
ministries, agencies and individuals, and we want to thank everyone involved in the survey, the
subsequent data analysis, and all those involved in preparing the final report.
The Global MICS Team of UNICEF defined the MICS protocols and methodology, and in
consultation with the CSO s staff, the survey tools were customized to Afghanistan s context. The
standardized MICS questionnaires, sample selection procedures and software used for tabulations
(provided by UNICEF) were indispensable for carrying out the survey and data analysis.
The CSO, with the collaboration of UNICEF consultants, trained their staff and others for the
fieldwork required to undertake the survey s sampling, data processing, analysis and report writing.
UNICEF also supported training abroad for the AMICS team members.
In particular, we sincerely thank UNICEF for their technical and financial support, which made this
survey and the resulting report possible.
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