The Palestinian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (PMICS) was carried out in 2014 by Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with Ministry of Health, as part of the global MICS programme. Technical and financial support was provided by the Palestinian Government, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The global MICS programme was developed by UNICEF in the 1990s as an international household survey programme to support countries in the collection of internationally comparable data on a wide range of indicators on the situation of children and women. MICS surveys measure key indicators that allow countries to generate data for use in policies and programmes, and to monitor progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other internationally agreed upon commitments. The Palestinian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey has as its primary objectives: To furnish data needed for monitoring progress toward goals established in the Millennium Declaration and other internationally agreed upon goals, as a basis for future action. To contribute to the improvement of data and monitoring systems in Palestine and to strengthen technical expertise in the design, implementation, and analysis of such systems. The Palestinian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2014 was conducted for a representative sample of Palestine. The survey was designed as a multi- stage cluster sample covering the entire country including two geographic regions; The West Bank which includes 11 governorates: (Jenin, Tubas, Tulkarm, Qalqiliya, Salfit, Nablus, Ramallah and Al Bireh, Jerusalem, Jericho and Al Aghwar, Bethlehem, Hebron) and Gaza Strip which includes 5 governorates (Gaza, Khan Yunis, Rafah, Deir El Balah and North Gaza) and was stratified according to urban, rural and camp areas. Of the 11,125 households selected in the sample, results showed that the number of occupied households were 10,568 of which 10,182 households were successfully interviewed during the survey, giving a response rate of 96 percent. There were 13,964 women in the 15-49 age group of which a total of 13,367 eligible women were successfully interviewed, achieving a response rate of 96 percent. In addition, the number of children was 7,919 child in the Household Questionnaire of which a total of 7,816 child were interviewed giving a response rate of 99 percent. The total households interviewed included 56,367 individual members who were listed. Of these, 28,542 were males and 27,825 were females with a sex ratio of 103 males per hundred females. It is noted that the Palestinian population is a young one. The percentage of individuals in the age group 0-17 years was 46 percent, whereas the percentage of individuals in the age group 18 and above was 54 percent. According to economic and social dependency categories, 39 percent individuals were in the age group 0-14 years, 58 percent in the age group 15-64 years which is the age category of economically active individuals; and 3 percent in the age group 65 years and over. The average household size in Palestine in 2014 was about 5.5 persons. About 91 percent of households are headed by men and about 9 percent of households are headed by women. The findings pertain to March-April 2014, when the fieldwork was conducted.
