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Core questions

Through expert consultations, the JMP has developed core questions for monitoring water, sanitation and hygiene at home, schools and health centres

To support the collection of comparable data between and within countries, the JMP has prepared core and expanded questions for the following settings:

The JMP core questions for household surveys document were first developed in 2006 to support monitoring of the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015). To monitor the new SDG targets for drinking water, sanitation and hygiene at home additional information can be collected in household surveys including:

  • Drinking water (water quality, availability of drinking water)
  • Sanitation (emptying of onsite sanitation facilities)
  • Hygiene (availability of a handwashing facility with water and soap)

The JMP has collaborated with UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) to develop and pilot new modules and questions for the SDGs. A draft set of updated core questions for household surveys was produced in November 2017 and finalized in 2018. The latest version of the MICS household questionnaire and water quality questionnaire provides an example of a full survey instrument using the questions recommended by the JMP team. 

Core questions and indicators have also been developed for monitoring WASH in schools and WASH in health care facilities

The JMP team welcomes feedback on the existing core questions and as well as suggestions for expanded sets of questions for SDG monitoring in households, schools and health care facilities. Please contact us with your feedback at info@washdata.org