SHOW - Section 4: External Reporting

Reports from country operations, bureaux, and headquarters divisions are the basis for tracking progress on providing protection and achieving solutions for forcibly displaced and stateless people. Therefore, it is important that operations provide credible and coherent data, evidence, and analysis in their Annual Results Reports (ARRs) and Annual Statistical Reports (ASRs). All reporting, including for governance bodies, donors, and the public, relies on the information in strategies, narratives, results data, population figures, and financial reports, which are summarised in these two reports.

The Global Report

The Global Report is UNHCR’s flagship report, which highlights the year’s achievements and presents UNHCR’s efforts to protect and provide solutions to forcibly displaced and stateless people. It also aims to tell the story of how the situation of forcibly displaced and stateless people changed during the year. It presents the results of UNHCR’s work in the global context, providing accountability to donors, partners, host governments and authorities and the people we work with and for. It also reflects on the annual plans set out in the Global Appeal and funding shortages, if needed.

The report includes data on populations, funding, budgets and expenditure, as well as information about results achieved with UNHCR’s contribution. It draws from the narratives and indicator reporting of each operation’s Annual Results Reports. The results are presented by global results framework areas – impact, outcome and outputs – as well as the eight focus areas of the UNHCR Strategic Directions, both globally and geographically by operation, region and situation. The Division of Strategic Planning and Results (DSPR) and the Division of External Relations (DER) lead the publication process. The Global Report and selected operational annual results reports are released in June on UNHCR’s Planning, Funding and Results page, and presented at the Standing Committee of the Executive Committee (ExCom) in June or July of each year.

Global Trends and Mid-Year Trends Reports

The Mid-Year Trends and Global Trends are UNHCR’s main statistical reports on forcibly displaced and stateless people. The Mid-Year Trends are compiled using the operations’ Mid-Year Statistical Reports (MYSR), available in July, and the Global Trends are compiled using the operations’ Annual Statistical Reports (ASR), available in February of the following year. The data is published on Population Statistical Reference (PSR). The Data, Identity Management and Analysis (DIMA) units of the bureaux and the Global Data Service (GDS) validate the submitted ASRs in March and the MYSRs in August.

Operations include more data in the ASR compared to the MYSR, due to the collection of additional reported data and more disaggregation by sex, age and sub-national locations. Based on the validated data in the PSR, the Statistics, Data Science and Survey Section (SDSS) of GDS drafts the Global and the Mid-Year Trends and publishes them in June and October respectively. The compiled official population statistics are also published on the Refugee Data Finder.

The operations’ focal points for compiling the ASR and MYSR statistics are responsible for ensuring the use of accurate and reliable data, as per global guidance. The DIMA units in each bureau support operations to maintain data quality.

Compiled data is essential for reporting purposes, including reporting to the Executive Committee (ExCom). Population figures are also used as denominators for some indicators in COMPASS. The collection, compilation and validation of these official statistics take time, typically resulting in a four-to-six-month lag between the reporting period and the publication of the reports. To improve the timeliness of reporting, GDS/SDSS also publishes nowcasted estimates of refugees and asylum-seekers – predicting the very recent past or the present – on a monthly basis.

Reporting on the Global Compact on Refugees

Reporting on the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) takes place in two ways.

Every year, operations report on progress and achievements against the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) pledges, GCR initiatives, and multi-stakeholder engagement and resource mobilization, as part of their ARRs. They include relevant sections on partnerships and collaboration. They also report on the nine GCR core impact and outcome indicators, following a quality assurance process.

Every two years, UNHCR produces an indicator report that highlights progress and gaps on all 16 GCR indicators. This includes the nine indicators reported annually in the ARRs and seven additional indicators from sources like the ASR, refugee response plan reporting, and the OECD (see the Global Compact on Refugees website).

Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) Accountability Report

The Age, Gender and Diversity Accountability Report, compiled by the Division of International Protection (DIP), is published between June and October every year. It provides an analysis of data, information and good practices on implementing UNHCR’s Policy on Age, Gender and Diversity and shows progress made in the past year on the ten core actions and areas of engagement set forth by the policy. The report covers AGD-inclusive programming, accountability to affected populations, gender equality, and using information from ARRs, ASRs, and regional and headquarters analysis. It also includes examples of good practices from operations worldwide.

The report contributes to UNHCR’s yearly reporting on various UN strategies and accountability frameworks,  including the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy, the UN System-wide Action Plan for Gender Equality (UN-SWAP), the UN Youth Strategy – Youth 2030 and the UN Gender Acceleration Plan.

UNHCR Education Report

The UNHCR Refugee Education Report is compiled by the Division of Resilience and Solutions (DRS). It provides information on the status of education for refugees, including enrolment data and other education access and quality indicators. It highlights the challenges refugees face in accessing and completing education based on narrative information from the ARRs and the results data of core impact and outcome indicators. It also includes case studies that highlight progress.

The UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) Reporting

UNHCR reports on its engagement with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) at both country and global levels. 

As part of the UN Country Team (UNCT) and the UNSDCF, UNHCR reports annually on its contribution to the Joint Work Plan. This includes indicator data, narratives and expenditures. Operations submit their reports either through UNINFO or using tools provided by the Resident Coordinator and the UNCT. The Joint Work Plan is due in the first quarter of each year.

At the global level, as a member of the UN Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), UNHCR reports on its engagement in UN development efforts, monitored through the UN’s Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) (see the UNSDCF guide).

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) report and the SDG Indicator 10.7.4

UNHCR is responsible for the SDG Indicator 10.7.4: Proportion of the population who are refugees, by country of origin. GDS updates this indicator annually and provides narrative and charts to the United Nations Statistics Division for the Sustainable Development Goals Report. 

In addition, DIP and GDS contribute annually to the joint OECD-UNHCR Safe Pathways for Refugees publication series. Similarly, the Division of Resilience and Solutions (DRS) and GDS contribute to the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC).

The UN Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS)

UNHCR has adopted the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy and developed a five-year action plan. The report is coordinated by DIP. It includes progress and challenges in integrating the disability aspect into policies and guidance. It is due in the second quarter of each year.

The UN System-Wide Action Plan for Gender Equality (UN-SWAP)

The UN System-Wide Action Plan for Gender Equity (UN-SWAP) is an accountability framework designed to measure and promote progress towards gender equality and the empowerment of women across the UN. DIP and the Division of Human Resources (DHR) input the information into the UN-SWAP reporting platform. This report is due between November and January annually.

The UN Youth Strategy – Youth 2030

The Youth 2030 strategy is the UN’s system-wide youth strategy. The reporting includes key performance indicators and narrative on successes and challenges in youth engagement. It is submitted annually in March.

Other reporting obligations

UNHCR contributes annually to UN system-wide financial data reporting (see the UN Data Cube for its six data standards). DFAM coordinates the yearly data extraction and submission to the UN Chief Executives Board.

In addition, UNHCR is part of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), which aims to increase transparency in development and humanitarian activities. Using the IATI open data standard, UNHCR publishes monthly data and information on budget, contributions, expenditures, disbursements and results on UNHCR’s Planning, Funding and Results page. DER is responsible for publishing the data in IATI.