The health and safety of all respondents and survey staff at country level, regional and global consultants, and UNICEF staff members is the top priority of the MICS programme, not only during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but as a general guiding principle.

As government recommendations to contain the spread of COVID-19, including mobility restrictions, are being introduced across the globe, the Global MICS Programme strongly recommends the temporary suspension of any survey activity that requires: (a) Interaction of survey staff with the general population, (b) travel across borders or within countries, or (c) face-to-face meetings involving groups of people, in order to minimize risks for survey teams and respondents. Examples include:

• Fieldwork and other activities (including listing and questionnaire pre-testing) that involve face-to-face interactions between survey staff and households.
• Any MICS-related activities that require National Statistical Office staff members, UNICEF staff members and consultants to travel within countries.
• Technical support missions that involve international travel of global and regional MICS consultants and UNICEF staff members.
• Training activities, workshops and technical meetings.
• Public events, such as to launch survey findings.