Resources
© UNHCR/Sebastian Rich
JDC Literature Review
The JDC publishes a monthly literature review update, highlighting recent publications, academic scholarship, and thought leadership on issues related to forced displacement. Our intention is to stimulate discussion, encourage the exchange of ideas, and support a ‘Community of Practice’.
The monthly reviews are added to the Forced Displacement Literature Review Database and also to a compilation, which is updated regularly. Both the database and the compilation are organized under 13 themes, including Drivers of Displacement and Decisions to Flee; Return, Restitution, and Resettlement; Education; Gender and LGTBI; Geopolitics of Forced Displacement and Foreign Aid; Health; Impact on Host Communities and Host Countries; Integration, Inclusion, and Social Cohesion; Internal Displacement; Private Sector; Technology; Urban and Local Government; and Legal and Policy Framework.
The center also publishes another knowledge product quarterly: the JDC’s Quarterly Digest. The Digest complements our Monthly Literature Review Update – which is a roundup that covers the latest research across many aspects of forced displacement – in that it has a clear thematic focus, includes an introductory piece by a guest editor, and almost exclusively draws on published works.
Access JDC Forced Displacement Literature Review
Latest JDC Literature Review Updates
Publications and Reports
JDC Paper Series on Forced Displacement. Highly vulnerable yet largely invisible: Forcibly displaced in the COVID-19-induced recession.
This inaugural issue of the JDC Paper Series on Forced Displacement highlights how investments are urgently needed for evidence-based humanitarian response to improve the lives of FDPs and their host communities during the pandemic. Read the paper here: Highly vulnerable yet largely invisible: Forcibly displaced in the COVID-19-induced recession.
A Primer: The Consequences of COVID-19 on Forced Displacement
The JDC has compiled a Primer on Research Activities, summarizing research and projects related to COVID-19 (coronavirus) and its impact on Forcibly Displaced Persons. The Primer will be updated regularly, with new research on this issue.
Read it here: The Consequences of COVID-19 on Forced Displacement
JDC Quarterly Digests
The JDC Quarterly Digests complement the monthly Literature Review Updates which the JDC has been publishing since October 2019. The Digests attempt to fill a gap between the Literature Review Updates—which cover the latest research papers or major studies on forced displacement—and formal surveys which take stock of the (mostly academic) literature, therefore trying to achieve a comprehensive coverage of published work.
Each Digest has a clear thematic focus, includes an introductory piece by a guest editor, and almost exclusively draws on published works
• Second issue (with an introductory piece by Dina Abu-Ghaida and Karishma Silva): Forced Displacement and Educational Outcomes: Evidence, Innovations, and Policy Indications. This JDC Quarterly Digest focuses on the impacts of forced displacement on education outcomes for internally displaced populations, refugees and their host communities. It further looks at some of the policies and interventions that provide strong evidence for a shift towards national inclusive education systems and calls for strengthening the evidence base on what works to create sustainable, inclusive solutions.
• First issue (with an introductory piece by Prof. Sascha Becker): Long-Term Consequences of Forced Displacement: Three Salient Themes. In this JDC Quarterly Digest, we seek to understand whether any short-term benefits from forced displacement accruing to host countries dissipate or persist over time, particularly when refugees return to their countries of origin or relocate elsewhere. Additionally, in contexts where large inflows of refugees lead to adverse impacts on host communities in the short-term, whether these problems resolve in the longer-term.
Compounding Misfortunes
This report looks at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, associated lockdowns and economic shocks and other misfortunes which have compounded the crisis, in Lebanon, three governorates in Jordan and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The report estimates that 4.4 million people in the host communities and 1.1 million refugees or IDPs have been driven into poverty in the immediate aftermath of the crisis. A response commensurate with the magnitude of the shock is needed to prevent further misery.
Read the full report here: Compounding misfortunes – Changes in Poverty since the onset of COVID-19 on Syrian Refugees and Host Communities in Jordan, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Lebanons.
Understanding the Socioeconomic Conditions of Refugees in Kalobeyei, Kenya
This report on Understanding the Socioeconomic Conditions of Refugees in Kaloyebei is the first analytical work supported by the JDC. The report, which was jointly launched by the World Bank and UNHCR, is based on 2018 Kalobeyei Socioeconomic Profiling Survey and presents some of the comparable demographic and socioeconomic snapshots of the refugees and host communities, and highlight how microdata are fundamental to understanding vulnerabilities and guiding interventions.
Read the full report here: Understanding the Socioeconomic Conditions of Refugees in Kalobeyei, Kenya
Data Portals and Microdata Libraries
The JDC aims to create a community of practice and resources around data on forcibly displaced persons. We seek to establish links between researchers, data providers, and practitioners for promoting coordinated and innovative efforts on the issue. This section consolidates various microdata portals and relevant research in context of forced displacement.
UNHCR Microdata Library
The UNHCR Microdata Library (MDL) provides access to microdata containing information about UNHCR persons of concern: refugees, asylum seekers, IDPs, returnees, stateless people, and other. The MDL contains unit-level microdata collected directly by UNHCR or indirectly through its partners, but supported in some way by UNHCR. The MDL aims to be the reference repository containing metadata on publicly available censuses, administrative data, and surveys regarding forced displaced people and other persons of concern to UNHCR, as well as provide direct access and/or links to the microdata. It is continuously updated as new datasets from UNHCR and its partners become available, and organizations which collect relevant data are highly encouraged to submit datasets for dissemination through the MDL.
Also, see UNHCR’s Refugee Data Finder to access information on displaced and stateless population, including their demographics, and the revamped Operational Data Portal for information, reports and key aggregate figures on operational data to support coordination with humanitarian partners.
World Bank Microdata Library
The World Bank Microdata Library is an online service which provides free access to microdata produced by the World Bank and also by other international, regional, and national organizations. The library has datasets on development issues including those related to forced displacement and refugee crisis.
The microdata in the Library have been collected through sample surveys of households, business establishments, or other facilities. Datasets may also originate from population, housing or agricultural censuses, or through an administrative data collection processes.
The Microdata Library is comprised of a number of collections, which can be browsed and searched individually or centrally from the Central Microdata Catalog.
Migration Data Portal
The Migration Data Portal aims to serve as a unique access point to timely, comprehensive migration statistics and reliable information about migration data globally. The portal is designed to help policy makers, national statistics officers, journalists, and the general public interested in the field of migration to navigate the increasingly complex landscape of international migration data, currently scattered across different organizations and agencies.
The Portal was launched in December 2017 and is managed and developed by IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC), with the guidance of its Advisory Board, and was supported in its conception by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Global Internal Displacement Database by IDMC
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) has developed an interactive platform, the Global Internal Displacement Database (GIID), which enables policy makers, researchers, NGOs, and general public to access displacement data, export it, and generate relevant graphs and visualizations.
The GIDD has three main tools for exploring, analysing, and viewing displacement data: the Displacement Data tab; the Global Displacement Risk Model; and the the Displacement Data Exploration Tool.
The Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX)
The Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) is an open platform for sharing data across crises and organizations. Launched in July 2014, the goal of HDX is to make humanitarian data easy to find and use for analysis. HDX is managed by OCHA’s Centre for Humanitarian Data, which is located in The Hague. OCHA is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies.