The Joint Data Centre (JDC), a collaboration between the World Bank and UNHCR, supports the alignment of data and information between humanitarian and development actors, pursuant to the Global Compact on Refugees. It also supports the World Bank’s IDA 18 programme, which dedicates World Bank grants to refugee populations and their host communities. For more information on the objectives of the JDC, see Module 2.5.
Registration data in proGres is a key source of both population data (e.g. aggregate numbers, age, sex and disability disaggregation, location) and socio-economic data (e.g. microdata on income, consumption, skills, health status, economic activity). When complemented with additional socio-economic household surveys and assessments, this data can provide UNHCR and its partners, as well as the World Bank and its partners, with demographic and welfare information on persons of concern to support tailored programming and planning.
In addition, demographic information from registration data can be included in annual Household Budget Surveys conducted by national statistical bodies, ensuring that the specific needs and circumstances of refugees are duly reflected in national development planning. Furthermore, verification and continuous registration activities can be leveraged by UNHCR, the World Bank and their respective partners, to conduct socio-economic survey samples of refugees. The information collected during these exercises can be collated and extrapolated to provide analysis for targeted livelihood programs for refugees as well as their host communities, as well as to help inform local development programs and policies in host countries.
UNHCR and the World Bank also collaborate on the anonymization9 of registration data for open data access. Open data access via UNHCR’s Microdata Library allows for high-quality analysis and research on refugee and other populations of concern, including for the purposes of identifying gaps in the implementation of services to populations of concern as well as informing broader national development and humanitarian planning.
9 Anonymization is the process of removing or modifying all personal identifiers and codes in such a way that individual data subjects cannot be identified and there is no reasonable likelihood that identification could take place based on the data, alone or in combination with other data.