Back to Top

Members and partners

The IHSN was established as a mechanism to coordinate and foster cooperation among international organizations and agencies. IHSN membership is currently limited to organizations and agencies providing financial and/or technical support to the implementation of national and/or international survey programs in developing countries. The IHSN Management Group approves new members.

Membership does not imply any legal obligation or mandatory contribution. It does represent, however, a commitment by members to adhere to the following principles whenever possible and appropriate:

  • Share information on ongoing and planned survey programs, with a view toward coordinating the timing and sequencing of surveys
  • Seek coordination of survey programs and implementation of joint activities
  • Seek standardization of questionnaires to improve international compatibility
  • Share survey metadata and participate in the maintenance of a central survey catalog
  • Advocate best practices in survey data collection, analysis, and dissemination
  • Share in the cost of IHSN activities by providing in-kind or in-cash voluntary contributions

IHSN members include:

  • African Development Bank (AfDB)
  • Asian Development Bank (ADB)
  • Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other sponsors, and implemented by ICF International
  • Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom
  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
  • Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
  • International Labour Organization (ILO)
  • International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
  • Observatoire Economique et Statistique d'Afrique Subsaharienne (AFRISTAT)
  • Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21/OECD)
  • United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
  • United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
  • United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
  • United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
  • United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
  • United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)
  • United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Institute for Statistics (UNESCO/UIS)
  • United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
  • United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)
  • United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
  • WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation
  • World Bank, Development Data Group (WB-DECDG)
  • World Food Programme (WFP)
  • World Health Organization (WHO)

The IHSN also benefits from the collaboration of non-member agencies.

The IHSN establishes partnerships with agencies, associations, or other groups who are leaders in specific areas related to survey data collection, analysis, or dissemination, including:

  • Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) Alliance
  • DataFirst, University of Cape Town
  • Economic Research Forum (ERF), Cairo
  • Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS-International), University of Minnesota
  • International Health Facility Assessment Network (IHFAN)
  • Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
  • Open Data Foundation (ODaF)