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Data and analysis

Data and analysis

Good decision-making requires good data.

UNHCR and partners are working to expand the availability and quality of data on refugees and host communities to help support the efficient targeting of aid resources and evidence-based programmes and policies.
Bangladesh. Joint initiative to enhance KoBoToolbox for data collection and analysis in displacement.

Reliable data is key for planning and monitoring solutions to ease the harsh conditions facing forcibly displaced populations, enable their economic resilience, and uplift host communities who live near them.

The importance of data and its protection is recognized by the Global Compact on Refugees and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

UNHCR and partners, including the World Bank and the World Bank-UNHCR Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement, have intensified our research and analysis to expand the availability of socioeconomic data on refugees and host communities.

Making decisions based on evidence is key to building the resilience of forcibly displaced and host communities and monitoring progress towards these goals. Evidence also allows for more efficient targeting of aid resources. 

UNHCR, with the support of and in collaboration with the World Bank-UNHCR Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement, is working to enhance the ability of stakeholders to make timely and evidence-informed decisions that improve the lives of affected people. It aims to:

  • Ensure population and socioeconomic data are systematically collected and analyzed;
  • Facilitate open access to forced displacement data while ensuring the integrity of the legal protection framework;
  • Promote innovations to enhance forced displacement data through satellite imagery, cell phones, and other new technologies;
  • Strengthen the global data collection system, establishing common norms, definitions, and methodologies, and support efforts to fortify country systems where necessary.

Improving the availability of comparable socioeconomic data on forcibly displaced and host communities is a major area of investment for UNHCR, and the World Bank is a key partner.

Major initiatives in this area include:

  • The inclusion of forcibly displaced persons in national surveys that measure poverty. The World Bank is working with national governments and their statistical offices to include refugees in household surveys. Chad, Niger and Uganda are examples of countries that have attained this milestone achievement. 
  • Conducting reduced versions of national surveys as part of UNHCR proGres verification exercises. For example, in Kenya, similar surveys have yielded previously unavailable data on the living conditions and estimates of the poverty level of refugees in the Kalobeyei refugee settlement.
  • Enhancing the capacity of UNHCR registries to collect more meaningful socioeconomic data. This ensures that corporate refugee data systems, primarily PRIMES and proGres, are capable of directly generating analytical insights that are useful to decision-makers.

Monitoring Livelihoods Programmes

We track the impact and the cost effectiveness of both UNHCR and our partners’ livelihoods programmes through a comprehensive monitoring framework. The framework uses a set of clearly defined impact and performance indicators to both guide the design and monitor programmes. Supporting the monitoring framework is a mobile survey tool that UNHCR field operations have been using to collect beneficiary data since 2017.

The impact of livelihoods interventions is presented through an open data platform, the UNHCR Integrated Refugee and Forcibly Displaced Livelihoods Information System, which presents performance and impact indicators in a standardized, systematic way that allows for comparison across countries and regions. Such results can be further disaggregated to view impact by age, gender, legal status, location and implementing partners. The platform displays results in real time, including anonymized household datasets for download, enabling timely adjustments to programmes.

Supporting the global rollout of the Livelihoods Information System, since 2018, UNHCR has partnered with the non-governmental organization CartONG, who provides training and other technical support to all global teams.

Further resources: 

Research and Policy Briefs

Reports and Surveys on the Socioeconomic Impact of COVID-19 on Forcibly Displaced Populations

LebanonMicrodata

Nigeria – Microdata

Kenya – MicrodataBlog post

Ethiopia – Microdata – Refugee sampling design

Uganda (Overview, Round 12, and 3) –  Blog post

Costa Rica (in Spanish) – Blog post (in Spanish) –Infographic – Microdata

Mexico (in Spanish) – Blog post (in Spanish) –Infographic – Microdata

Impact on adolescents in Bangladesh Cox's Bazar – Microdata – Blog post 

Summary of sectors, thematic areas, and associated datasets in Rwanda
Data mapping overview

The impact of financial assistance through volunteer programmes in Cox's Bazar refugee camps
Research Brief

Age- and gender-based health risks facing adolescents within Rohingya refugee and Bangladeshi host communities
Policy briefs on health, nutrition, and SRH

Psychosocial well-being among Rohingya and Bangladeshi adolescents in Cox's Bazar
Policy brief (UNHCR provided comments)

Exploring the educational barriers facing adolescents in Cox's Bazar
Policy brief (UNHCR provided comments)

Exploring the capabilities of Bangladeshi and Rohingya adolescents in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh (includes analysis on bodily integrity and freedom from violence)
Policy brief (UNHCR provided comments)

Estimating refugee poverty quickly using cross-survey imputation
Research paper – Summary – Blog post 

Reaching the poorest refugees in Niger
Evaluation of food and cash distribution 

Impact of Venezuelan flow on Roraima State in Brazil
Implications for Public Policy

Integration of Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in Brazil
Research paper - Blog post - Socioeconomic indicators dashboard (in Portuguese)

Improving employment outcomes in Uganda
Summary - Policy brief - Knowledge brief - Blog Post

Supporting the most vulnerable groups in Uganda
Targeting assistance programmes to persons with specific needs and vulnerabilities

Improving welfare and food security through better land productivity
Overview of access to land and its uses by refugees in the Maratane Camp and host communities in Mozambique

Graduation programme in Mozambique
Design of impact evaluation on employment, welfare and social integration for refugees and host communities - Blog post

Socioeconomic Comparisons of Forcibly Displaced Persons and Hosts