The Government of Kiribati organized the first-ever MICS Data Interpretation and Report Compilation (DIRC) Workshop in the Pacific region, 29 April–3 May, for the Kiribati Social Development Indicators Survey (SDIS). The survey is the second ever for the MICS programme in the Pacific, following the Vanuatu MICS, which took place in 2007–2008. As a groundbreaking development for the programme, the sixth round will include several countries from the Pacific region, including Tuvalu, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Nauru (and possibly more) that will be conducting their surveys in 2019 and 2020.
Fieldwork for the Kiribati SDIS began in November 2018 and was completed in January 2019, with a sample size of 3,280 households. Survey results are well poised to officially launch within the next few months, meeting the programme target of releasing survey results within 6 months of fieldwork completion.
The DIRC workshop was organized and led by Ms. Aritita Tekaieti, republican statistician of Kiribati and Ms. Agnether Lemuelu, deputy republican statistician and SDIS survey coordinator. The opening session included remarks from: Ms. Otobina Kautu Temakei, deputy secretary, Ministry of Finance; Bruce Cowled, high commissioner, Australia; Sandra Paredes, population and development adviser, UNFPA; and Attila Hancioglu, Global MICS Programme coordinator. All speakers pointed out the importance of the SDIS in producing data and evidence on important issues such as child mortality, health, nutrition, child protection and domestic violence. The survey also includes data on many indicators that will be produced for the first time in Kiribati—on drinking water quality, learning skills of children, child functioning and physical/sexual violence against women at the population level.
Experts from the National Statistical Office, from the Ministries of Health, Education, Social Welfare, Internal Affairs, Kiribati Family Planning Association, Kiribati Women and Children Crisis Center, Pacific Community (SPC) and UNFPA attended the DIRC workshop to work on the tabulations produced and to start work on the Survey Findings Report and Statistical Snapshots. Members of the Global MICS team were present throughout, facilitating most of the sessions, providing guidance and on-site technical support in data processing, interpretation of findings and report compilation.