Strengthening the global education in emergencies data architecture

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session (English)

Proposal

To respond to the education needs of children and youth in emergency and protracted crisis settings requires adequate data at all stages of crisis and response. This session details challenges in collecting, storing, and sharing education data in emergency and protracted crisis settings and progress currently being made to address the education in emergencies (EiE) data architecture.

The panel builds on the work of the 2019 Education in Emergencies Data Summit. The long-term vision agreed at the Summit had several dimensions. First, EiE data collection, storage, and use must be underpinned by strong methodological and ethical foundations. The primary purpose of this data is to support the intervention of programmes and strengthening of education systems. Ideally this data would be comparable across contexts and over time while also able to be contextualised to meet the needs of emergency-affected populations. Second, where possible, data sharing should become the norm with increased use of global repositories and platforms. Again, this must adhere to strict ethical and protection guidelines. Third, data should be made more accessible to non-data specialists for use in research, advocacy, and programme design and implementation, while organisations should simultaneously strengthen data literacy and capacity of their own staff. Fourth, groups currently absent or underrepresented by the statistical picture - such as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), refugees, girls, speakers of minority languages and other marginalised groups – must be prioritised. Fifth, none of this is possible without adequate funding. As funding for EiE increases, so should funding for EiE data initiatives, initiatives which often help make the case for EiE itself and thereby increase funding for the sector.

Presentations in this panel will speak to issues of indicator standardisation, data sharing arrangements, strengthening national EMIS systems to deal with refugees, and issues of language and marginalisation of particular groups.
There will be four presentations:

- Sébastien Hine, FHI360 and Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), will present on the findings of the 2019 EiE Data Summit, progress on the Data Summit’s agreed Action Agenda, and INEE’s efforts to create an EiE indicator list that corresponds to the Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies.
- Elliot McBride, Data Manager, OCHA Centre for Humanitarian Data will present on the growth of EiE data sharing on the United Nations’ Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX), as well as the progress of joint efforts between OCHA and the Global Education Cluster to increase the use and impact of education data in humanitarian response.
- Erica Aiazzi, UNHCR, will present UNCHR and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics’ (UIS) work on data sources, availability of data and indicators for refugee education.
- Eric DeLuca, Translators without Borders, will present on the importance of language in addressing exclusion issues in education in emergencies data.

Sub Unit

• Education, Conflict, and Emergencies SIG

Chair

• Anne Smiley, FHI 360

Individual Presentations

• Progress since the 2019 Education in Emergencies Data Summit - Sébastien Hine, FHI360 and INEE

• Increasing the Use and Impact of Data in Humanitarian Response: Lessons Learned and Future Plans - Elliot McBride, OCHA Centre for Humanitarian Data

• Refugee education data: data sources, availability of data and indicators - Erica Aiazzi, UNHCR; Juan Perusia, UNESCO Institute for Statistics

• The impact of language on data - exacerbating exclusion in emergencies - Eric DeLuca, Translators without Borders; Alice Castillejo, Translators Without Borders

Discussant

• Moira Faul, University of Geneva