Joint Press release on signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Kosovo Agency of Statistics and UNICEF Kosovo on 2025 MICS

Prishtina, 5 December 2024 – Today, the Kosovo Agency of Statistics and UNICEF Kosovo signed the Memorandum of Understanding formalizing their commitment to conduct the2025 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) in Kosovo. This partnership underscores a shared commitment to strengthening data availability to inform evidence-based decision-making for children and families in Kosovo.

“MICS is one of the largest household surveys conducted in Kosovo, which in addition to filling in significant data gaps and informing decision making processes, it is critical to strengthening capacities of Kosovo Agency of Statistics to generate high-quality and international comparable data that is based on a comprehensive methodology. KAS thanks UNICEF for the technical assistance provided as part of the MICS programme and we look forward to our joined commitment to collecting high-quality data that will be vital to inform targeted policies and interventions in Kosovo.” – said Avni Kastrati, Acting Executive Director of the Kosovo Agency of Statistics.

MICS is one of the largest international household surveys globally that generates high-quality and internationally comparable data, including 85 percent of household survey related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators. For Kosovo, this marks the third round of MICS implementation which builds on successful completion of two previous surveys conducted in 2014 and 2020.

The 2025 Kosovo MICS will fill in critical data gaps and provide estimates for progress monitoring in areas of child health, education, and protection. MICS will generate detailed disaggregated data as well as collect specific estimates for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities to inform equity monitoring for inclusion of most marginalized children and families.

The data collection is planned in spring 2025 with the results of the survey planned to be released by end of 2025. Similar to previous rounds, this MICS will consist of two separate surveys: one involving the general population and another representative survey specifically targeting the Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities. The 2014 and 2020 Kosovo MICS surveys have been vital in informing targeted policy decision and budget allocation to address key challenges faced by children and families in Kosovo. 

“UNICEF looks forward to partner with the Kosovo Agency of Statistics to strengthen evidence generation on the situation of children and families in Kosovo. I welcome the commitment of the Kosovo institutions for the implementation of the MICS surveys with general population and Roma, Ashakli and Egyptian communities which is critical to fill in data gaps and inform targeted interventions to address the needs of every child in Kosovo, especially the most marginalized children and families MICS delivers that insight, so statistics become a tool to transform lives. We get better at identifying vulnerable populations and develop interventions based on real-life evidence.” – said Veronika Vashchenko, Head of UNICEF in Kosovo.

For more information about the 2025 MICS and partnership opportunities, please contact: Agency of Statistics in Kosovo and UNICEF in Kosovo