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REFUGEE STATISTICS: VOICE OF PEOPLE WITHOUT VOICE. Mr. Jean-François Durieux Director, Division of Programme Support and Management UNHCR. UNHCR responsibilities for statistics. UNHCR’s responsibilities are defined in international legal instruments
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REFUGEE STATISTICS: VOICE OF PEOPLE WITHOUT VOICE Mr. Jean-François Durieux Director, Division of Programme Support and Management UNHCR
UNHCR responsibilities for statistics UNHCR’s responsibilities are defined in international legal instruments • 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees • 1950 Statute of the Office of the UNHCR UNHCR’s statistics are unique • Refugee and statelessness figures are not included in official statistics of most countries • Global statistics on refugees are provided only by UNHCR
How many globally end 2009? 43 million displaced by conflict or violence • 16 million refugees and asylum-seekers • 27 million internally displaced persons 12 million stateless persons
How do we obtain the data? • Individual registration • Population censuses • Surveys and estimation • Participatory assessment methods
Topics seen only through statistics on displaced persons • 5.5 million refugees in a protracted situation • Unaccompanied and separated children seeking asylum may be at risk of trafficking • Child soldiers are often recruited from displaced populations • Over 50% of the world’s refugees live in urban or semi-urban environments
Impact of ignoring displaced persons in figures? • Displaced persons can be a significant share of the de facto population of some countries • Are often one of most vulnerable group of people • Millennium Development Goals need to include these groups to be achieved • Refugee camps never appear as official locations in country maps and development plans (e.g. refugee complex Dadaab in Kenya = 4th largest pop. center)
Uses of Statistics • Advocacy and raising awareness • Results based management • Prioritization of interventions based on gap assessment and statistical trends • Finding durable solutions for refugees • Fundraising • Meeting special needs of certain groups