Committee (IASC) Information Management Working Group,<sup>6</sup> as well as an initiative being led jointly by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Statistics Norway under the auspices of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSD).<sup>7</sup> The latter is working on: (a) preparation of a handbook for official statistics on refugees together with a refugee statistics compiler’s manual that would provide practical guidance to improve the collection, analysis and dissemination of refugee statistics; and (b) formation of a committee composed of experts from both national statistical agencies and international organizations, which would lead the development of the handbook (UNSD 2016). Progress on this agenda was discussed at the 47<sup>th</sup> session of UNSD held in New York in March 2016, where it was decided that the expert group should also include IDPs in its scope of work (UNSD 2016).

The objective of this report is to review the various sources of data on conflict-induced forced displacement and to assess how these can be improved to enable more effective analysis and assistance by development actors. Specifically, the report: (a) reviews the various sources of data on refugees, asylum-seekers and IDPs and provides a comprehensive overview of their coverage, timeliness and reliability; and (b) assesses how the collection and compilation of data could be improved to enable more effective analysis of displacement situations and assistance by development actors. This analysis has been carried out through an examination of available data on refugees, asylum-seekers and IDPs, a desk review of relevant literature, and technical inputs from key data collectors and compilers including UNHCR, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), IDMC, JIPS and IOM. While there are significant numbers of people displaced by natural and man-made disasters, as well as development projects, the focus of this report is on conflict-induced displacement only. The circumscribed focus of this paper recognizes the unique character of displacement emerging in fragile, conflict-affected and violent settings, and the need to appropriately tailor development responses to these contexts and the underlying drivers of conflict.

# **Box 1: Terminology used in this Report**

**Refugees** : Individuals displaced outside their country of nationality or habitual residence as a consequence of generalized violence, conflict or a well-founded fear of persecution, and are therefore in need of protection.<sup>8</sup>

**Asylum-seekers** : Individuals who are seeking international protection under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention) but whose claims for refugee status have not yet been determined.<sup>9</sup>

**IDPs** : Individuals who have been forced or obliged to leave their homes or places of habitual residence as a result of, or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights, and who have not crossed an international border and therefore remain under the legal protection of their own government.<sup>10</sup>

aims at addressing gaps in disaggregated data (by location, sex, age and diversity) and promoting evidence-based responses to displacement in the context of the search for durable solutions. See: www.jips.org.

6 IAMC’s Information Management Working Group, chaired by OCHA, was established in 2006 to provide a forum for humanitarian organizations to strengthen information management in order to support improved decision making in emergency preparedness and response. See https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/topics/imwg.

7 UNSD, established in 1947, is the highest decision making body for international statistical activities, bringing together chief Statisticians from member states. See http://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom.

8 The terminology for refugee used in this paper draws on the definitions of a refugee in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, and 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees (See Box 2).

9 Consistent with that used by UNHCR.

10 Consistent with the definition of an IDP in the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, except that it excludes internal displacement due to natural or human-made disasters.