ABSTRACT
There is growing awareness that socioeconomic and demographic information (SDI) is of vital importance to planning in developing countries and to the adoption of an ‘evidence-based’ policy perspective in public programmes (Solesbury, 2001; Court and Young, 2003). SDI is also seen as critical to the work of civil society organizations. The use of SDI is relatively consolidated at the national level in most countries. Central governments regularly produce and utilize demographic estimates, health indicators and specific SDI analyses to plan their actions. However, in the sub-national and urban areas of developing countries, such data are often unavailable. Even in the face of rapid urbanization, information needed for regional and urban social policies remains a neglected issue.
