The survey provides statistically sound and internationally comparable data essential for developing evidence-based policies and programmes, and for monitoring progress toward national goals and global commitments. Among these global commitments are those emanating from the World Fit for Children Declaration and Plan of Action, the goals of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the Education for All Declaration and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Sierra Leone MICS results will be critically important because it forms the baselines for nearly half of Sierra Leone survey-based SGD indicators. In addition, it will also track progress on the many indicators not measured since the country’s last MICS in 2010. Sierra Leone MICS is expected to contribute to the evidence base of several other important initiatives, including in filling data gaps for national post-MDG reporting, providing a measure of the socio-economic impact of the Ebola virus disease (EVD), as well as developing a monitoring and evaluation system for Sierra Leone’s National Programme for Food Security, Job Creation and Good Governance, the third-generation Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP3), dubbed “Agenda for Prosperity” developed in 2012. The 2017 Sierra Leone MICS has as its primary objectives: To provide up-to-date information for assessing the situation of children and women in Sierra Leone; To provide a measure of the socio-economic impact of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Sierra Leone; To provide additional data needed for preparing a country progress report on achieving the goals of World fit for children (WFFC), and the reporting requirements of other international development declarations and agendas; To contribute to the development of the national statistical system, data and monitoring systems, and strengthen national capacity in the design, implementation, and analysis of such monitoring systems. To obtain a nationally-representative view of the quality of water that people drink in their home and the quality of their drinking water source.; To contribute to the generation of baseline data for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
