The SDGinsights challenge was launched by Unite Ideas in collaboration with USAID's Demographic and Health Surveys Program. The challenge invites participants to combine DHS data with other georeferenced data to help visualize the progress of SDGs.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) uses data to drive our decisions and influence progress toward our goals of preventing child and maternal deaths and controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For 30 years, USAID has pioneered The Demographic and Health Surveys Program (DHS Program). The DHS Program provides technical assistance for the implementation of more than 300 household and facility-based surveys in more than 90 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America/Caribbean and Eastern Europe. Data collected through the DHS Program have deepened and transformed our understanding of population, health and nutrition issues in the developing world.

The DHS Program uses consistent survey methods and questionnaires to measure key indicators, including infant and child mortality, fertility, family planning use, maternal health, child immunization, malnutrition levels, HIV prevalence and more. Data from these surveys are comparable across time and place and are freely available for public use. These data are widely used by governments, donors, researchers and civil society to inform health-related programming, policies, funding priorities and research. They also have provided both the baseline and the monitoring indicators for many of the Millennium Development Goals and other global development strategies. Widely known as a global good, the DHS Program is now the largest and longest enduring program of its kind globally.

How USAID Uses DHS Program Data

The DHS Program exemplifies the Agency’s commitment to building the evidence base to support effective program and policy making while ensuring data openness and transparency. Data collected by the DHS Program allow USAID to monitor trends across health program areas and set priorities for funding, interventions and policy changes.

Useful Resources

• Visit the DHS Program website to learn more.
• Build your own customizable tables, charts and graphs using DHS data on STATcompiler.
• Read the recent report “Women’s Lives and Challenges: Equality and Empowerment since 2000” [PDF, 12.7MB], which utilizes DHS data to track trends in gender equality and women’s empowerment across the globe.
• Download the free DHS Program app for iPhone and Android to have final reports, key indicators and more.

News and Announcements

• Announcement: SDGinsights challenge was launched by Unite Ideas in collaboration with The Demographic and Health Surveys Program. The challenge invites participants to combine DHS data with other georeferenced data to help visualize the progress of SDGs
• Announcement: Collaboration Yields New Disability Questionnaire Module [PDF, 354KB]
• Press Release: Establishment of a Collaborative Group among the DHS, MICS and LSMS