This was announced following the results of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey for the 2010-2011 period (MICS 4) by the General Statistics Office (GSO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Hanoi on December 16.

In accordance with the findings of the survey, one-half of children in urban areas aged 1-2 received comprehensive inoculation while the rate in rural areas was one-third.

More than seven out of 10 Vietnamese had access to clean water and improved lavatories. However, the numbers of Kinh and Hoa people who had access to these facilities were doubled those of other ethnic minorities.

GSO Director General Do Thuc said with 20 criteria from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and more than 100 others related to children and women, the MICS4 has provided important information which confirms positive results obtained during the implementation of the National Action Programme for Children in the 2010-2011 period, the MDG and the Declaration and Plan of Action “A World fit for Children”. 

Therefore, the MICS4 will actively contribute to controlling the set targets as well as working out new plans for better protecting and taking care of children. Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF Chief Representative in Vietnam, said the precise and valuable data of MICS4 will enable Vietnam to closely monitor progress in fulfilling national goals and global commitments including the MDGs with a vision to 2015.

The MICS4 is an international initiative in surveying households, through which UNICEF supports countries in collecting and analyzing statistics to monitor the situation of women and children.

The three previous MICS were conducted in Vietnam in 1996, 2000 and 2006.