Health workers measure and record the height and weight of Erlan Bernoupereinev, 3, at his home, in Kindik Uzyak Village in the Konlikul District, Republic of Karakalpakstan.

In July 2011 in Uzbekistan, UNICEF is working closely with the Government to improve conditions for children, particularly in the areas of health and education. While child mortality rates have decreased significantly, some 20,000 under-5 children still die each year. Further, more than 10 per cent of eligible primary school children do not attend school. In addition to programme and advocacy support, UNICEF is currently running a Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) in the country. This is part of the fourth round of MICS, scheduled for 2009 – 2011, that is helping countries measure their progress in achieving national and international child survival and development goals, including the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (targeted for achievement in 2015). MICS data is collected in face-to-face interviews in nationally representative samples of households, generating one of the world’s largest sources of statistical information on children and women. Since the mid-1990s, MICS have enabled more than 100 countries to produce statistically sound and internationally comparable estimates of a range of health, education, child protection and other indicators.