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Session Submission Summary

Improving data coordination and data standards for forcibly displaced populations

Tue, February 21, 6:30 to 8:00pm EST (6:30 to 8:00pm EST), Grand Hyatt Washington, Floor: Constitution Level (3B), Constitution D

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

For emergency- and crises-affected populations, education is not only a fundamental right, inclusive and equitable education also plays a critical role in the protection and well-being of individuals and the cohesion of communities. However, for forcibly displaced persons in vulnerable situations, the right to education is too often unfulfilled. For example, the latest data show that a record estimated 222 million school-aged children are affected by crises globally: 78.2 million are out of school, while 119.6 million attending schools are not achieving minimum proficiency in reading or mathematics by the early grades, 24.2 million children in pre-primary school or primary or secondary school are achieving minimum proficiency in these areas but are still affected by crises and in need of support (ECW, 2022). Given global commitments in line with Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to ensure safe, inclusive and equitable quality education through lifelong learning, this is unacceptable.
Quality data is critical to understanding the extent to which forcibly displaced populations are accessing and progressing through education. However, while progress towards the achievement of SDG4 is measured through international and national monitoring systems for many populations, this is mostly not the case for forcibly displaced children and adolescents, who are often excluded from national education data systems (UNHCR & UNESCO-UIS, 2022). Monitoring progress for SDG4 requires robust systems in place to measure equitable access, learning, safety and protection; systems that are not in place when it comes to refugee and other people of concern learners.
Available data on refugees and other forcibly displaced groups is largely limited to access, predominantly focusing on enrolment rates. However, even in this dimension, limitations exist, for example, the status of access to education for half of the world’s refugee school-aged population is still unknown. The lack of data on access is a particular concern in settings of inclusion, where refugee learners are enrolled in national education systems, as Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) do not disaggregate data by protection or displacement status. In addition, with some exceptions, at the national level the interest in the disaggregation of SDG4 indicators by forcibly displaced populations is generally still low and not yet considered priority information, thus increased buy-in at the national level is needed (UNHCR, 2020). For other dimensions of education such as learning and safety, data constraints are even more severe. For example, for safety, a recent review (UNHCR & UNESCO-UIS, 2022) suggests that data on this dimension is practically non-existent, despite enrolment in school being linked to positive child protection outcomes. This is especially relevant in light of the school closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, where a systematic review of evidence on the impact of pandemics indicates that both education and child protection outcomes are disproportionately more likely to affect the most marginalized and vulnerable children (Bakrania et al., 2020) – including displaced learners. The data for internally displaced person is even more limited than that for refugees.
This panel will present ongoing efforts on data coordination to improve data standards for forcibly displaced groups. The practices and data presented show examples of how improvements in data coordination, harmonization, and standardization are possible and can improve the efficiency and long-term quality of data produced on and for forcibly displaced populations.

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