1. Inter-Secretariat Working Group on Household Surveys
Stefan Schweinfest
Director
UN Statistics Division

2. The 47th session of the UNSC approved the terms of reference of the Working Group, in particular its proposed mandate, governance structure and priorities of work
Members:
FAO, UIS, UNICEF, UNODC, WHO, WORLD BANK, UNSD (Secretariat), ILO
ILO is the current Chair

3. Strategic areas of work
Promote coordination and cooperation in the planning, funding and implementation of household surveys
Provide strategic vision, direction and coordination for the methodological development and implementation of minimum standards and best practice
Promote the application of normative international statistical standards, guidelines and other methodological documents and resources on household surveys
Promote the harmonization of survey methods and instruments

4. Strategic areas of work
(contd.)
Encourage national and international survey producers to publicly share information on their ongoing and planned surveys
Promote the documentation, cataloguing and dissemination of household survey datasets and related metadata
Promote the use of sample survey data in research and policy formulation
Develop partnerships to provide adequate funding and resources to deliver the capacity-building needed by countries in the implementation of household surveys

5. Progress so far
Mapping of global SDG indicators and household surveys (to be presented to 2018 UN Statistical Commission session).
Five Task Forces that were established under the auspices of the ISWGHS. The three where outputs are likely to be produced during 2017 are a) Food Consumption (FAO and World Bank); b) Education expenditure (UIS and World Bank) and; c) Standards on survey data documentation (World Bank)
A website has been created that provides updated information of the activities of the group (

6. Mapping of global SDG indicators and HH surveys
Some key findings
One-third (77 out of 232 ) global indicators spread across 13 out of 17 goals can be currently or in future sourced from HHS
DHS/MICS cover 31 indicators, followed by LFS (10), LSMS/HIES (6) and Victimization Survey (4)
13 out of the 77 indicators are in Tier III – methodological work in progress
Almost all surveys require national coverage
Different types of surveys require different population groups
Most surveys require a periodicity of 3 to 5 years with major exception of labour indicators where more frequent coverage is required

7. Mapping of global SDG indicators and HH surveys
Some key findings (contd.)
A coordinated finite set of surveys offers the potential to source a large proportion of the indicators
Close to two thirds of indicators could be produced at the desired frequency through a cycle of DHS, MICS, LSMS/HIES and LFS. Further indicators could possibly be integrated into such a set of surveys although it may not be able to achieve 100% coverage
Further efficiency could be built into the system by reviewing survey instruments to identify opportunities for coherence in variable specifications/modules where topics overlap

8. A national coordinated system of surveys
Potential benefit
A cycle of regular household survey activities in NSOs would lead to sustainable survey capacity in those NSOs and improve coherence across surveys and promote more cross-analysis.
Further development of this idea requires detailed discussion between the agencies addressing what cycle of surveys over a medium to long term could be envisaged