Standards and Training
Refworld contains several papers, manuals and tools that highlight standards to be adhered to when carrying out country research and/or drafting country papers. Below are listed a few.
Country Research Standards
- Country of Origin Information: Towards Enhanced International Cooperation, UNHCR, February 2004
- Researching Country of Origin Information: A Training Manual, ACCORD / COI Network & Training, September 2004 (in French)
- Common EU Guidelines for Processing Country of Origin Information (COI), European Union, April 2008
- Guide to Country Research for Refugee Status Determination (Update), By Elisa Mason, update published on 18 March 2002 (external link)
Publication Standards
- UNHCR Master Glossary of Terms, UNHCR, Rev.1, June 2006
- UNHCR Style Guide, UNHCR, Second edition, July 2005
- UNHCR List of Abbreviations, UNHCR, Updated November 2006
- Introduction to Basic Legal Citation, By Peter W. Martin (LII 2007 ed.) (external link)
Training Modules
- Self-Study Module 1: An Introduction to International Protection. Protecting Persons of Concern to UNHCR, UNHCR, August 2005 (in French)
- Self-Study Module 2: Refugee Status Determination. Identifying Who is a Refugee, UNHCR, September 2005 (in French)
- Self-Study Module 3 on interpretation (forthcoming)
- Self-Study Module 4 on credibility (forthcoming)
- Self-Study Module 5, Vol. I: Human Rights and Refugee Protection, UNHCR, December 2006 (in French)
- Self-Study Module 5, Vol. II: Human Rights and Refugee Protection, UNHCR, December 2006 (in French)
- Self-Study Module 6 on statelessness (forthcoming)
- Other UNHCR training materials
Training
UNHCR's Status Determination and Protection Information Section offers possibilities for training on country research standards and the use of Refworld. In case of interest, please contact the Section at refworld@unhcr.org.
In addition, in the course of 2008, the Section will be updating and expanding its four above-mentioned papers, and is in the process of developing a module on country information in refugee status determination procedures.
The Section was involved with other actors as part of the Reference Group of the "COI Network III", which comprised of 18 governmental and non-governmental organizations from 15 European countries, and also contributed to the initiative of the European Commission to arrive at "Common EU guidelines" for processing COI. It is also involved in the European Commission project to arrive at a "Common EU Portal" for country of origin information.
Since January 2008, the Section financially supports, and actively participates in, the European COI Training Network, which is co-ordinated by ACCORD.
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