Mission and objectives

The mission of the IHSN is to improve the availability, accessibility, and quality of survey data within developing countries, and to encourage the analysis and use of this data by national and international development decision makers, the research community, and other stakeholders.

To support this mission, the key objectives of the IHSN are:

• Improved coordination of internationally sponsored survey programs, with emphasis on timing, sequencing, frequency, and cost-effectiveness
• Availability of coordinated and practical technical and methodological guidelines for all stages of the survey life cycle
• Availability of a central survey data catalog which would inform data users of the availability of survey and census data from multiple sources
• Availability of standards, tools, and guidelines that would allow data producers to document, disseminate, and preserve microdata according to international standards and best practices
• Improved collaboration between data producers and users