UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation

UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation
Name	UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation
Abbreviation	IGME
Formation	2004
Headquarters	New York City
Parent organizations	United Nations Children's Fund, World Health Organization, World Bank, United Nations Population Division

Contents

UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation is a technical collaboration involving United Nations agencies and international institutions that produce global and national estimates of child mortality. The group provides standardized time series and analysis used by policymakers in United Nations, United States, United Kingdom, India and other countries, informing targets such as the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals. Its outputs are cited by institutions including the World Health Organization, the World Bank Group, United Nations Children's Fund, and academic publishers like The Lancet and Nature.

History

The IGME was formed in 2004 as a response to discrepancies between estimates produced by the United Nations Population Division, the World Health Organization, and independent research groups such as the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and researchers publishing in The Lancet. Early activities intersected with policy processes including the Millennium Summit and the preparations for the Millennium Development Goals review, and built on long-standing data collection efforts by the Demographic and Health Surveys Program and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. Over time IGME’s work has been referenced alongside analyses from the Bank of England for fiscal planning, cited in reports by the African Union, and used by national ministries such as the Ministry of Health (Kenya) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (India).

IGME’s mandate includes producing comparable estimates of under-five mortality, neonatal mortality, and infant mortality to support monitoring by the United Nations General Assembly, the World Health Assembly, and regional bodies like the European Commission and African Union. Objectives emphasize methodological transparency endorsed by partners including the World Bank Group and the United Nations Population Fund, alignment with indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals, and provision of subnational insights used by governments such as Brazil and South Africa. The group coordinates with research centers such as the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to ensure technical rigor.

IGME combines household survey data from programs like the Demographic and Health Surveys Program and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys with vital registration records from national civil registration systems such as those in Sweden and Japan, and census data from nations including China and Nigeria. Statistical approaches draw on techniques used in publications in The Lancet and models developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, while incorporating demographic methods advanced by scholars associated with Princeton University and University of Oxford. The group applies adjustments for biases noted in work by the World Health Organization and employs uncertainty estimation methods similar to those used by the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

IGME issues annual reports, country profiles, and technical appendices that have been cited in outlets such as Nature, The Lancet, and reports by the World Bank. Key outputs include time-series estimates used by the United Nations Children's Fund in program planning, infant and neonatal mortality estimates referenced at the World Health Assembly, and methodological notes that inform analyses by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded studies. IGME datasets are incorporated into dashboards and repositories maintained by organizations like the World Health Organization and the United Nations Statistics Division.

IGME is a collaborative mechanism led by technical staff from principal partners including United Nations Children's Fund, World Health Organization, World Bank Group, and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Governance involves consultations with member-state representatives at forums such as the United Nations General Assembly and technical advisory groups composed of experts from institutions like the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Partnerships extend to regional bodies including the Pan American Health Organization and funders such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

IGME’s estimates have influenced policy decisions in countries like Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Ghana and have been instrumental in tracking progress toward the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals. The group’s transparent methodologies have been praised by agencies including the World Bank Group and journals such as The Lancet, though critiques from researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and authors in Nature have questioned model assumptions, data inclusion criteria, and handling of incomplete vital registration systems in countries like India and Nigeria. Debates have involved academic institutions such as Princeton University and policy bodies like the World Health Assembly, prompting iterative methodological refinements and increased collaboration with national statistical offices including those of Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa.