IOM and IDMC developing indicators on displacement for DRR: Call for public review
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) invite members of the DRR community to comment on a newly created set of standard displacement-related metrics and indicators which will strengthen the ability of DRR actors to integrate displacement in their work.
Displacement, whether short and long-term, short and long-distance, managed or spontaneous, is a key impact of hazards, often acting as a multiplier of their impacts and a source of further vulnerability. It is therefore the focus of an increasing number of disaster-related policy and operational efforts at national and regional levels, as well as mentioned in the objectives outlined in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. However, no displacement-related metric is currently included among the indicators that countries use to monitor progress against the risk reduction objectives of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Objectives
In order to attempt to fill this gap, IOM and IDMC launched a joint project in late 2021 to:
- Take stock of relevant actors, methodological approaches, data sources and work carried out so far in a state-of-the-art report;
- Develop a set of draft indicators and recommended metrics that can help monitor disaster displacement, its impacts and related risks, to be integrated in disaster-related assessment and monitoring processes;
- In collaboration with governmental and international counterparts, pilot the draft set of indicators through existing DRR information systems and reporting mechanisms.
Workplan and approach
The activities under this indicators pilot are being actively carried out in phases:
- Publication of 2 reports (accessible on the project page)
- Pilot implementation including field-level data collection and review of existing historical datasets
- A “State of the Art” report, mapping existing data sources, approaches and efforts. IOM and IDMC drafted this report through a consultative process involving specialists on data and programming on displacement, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, which was presented at the 7th session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Bali in May 2022.
The report highlights the relevance of “displacement”, and the need for its better integration into DRR conceptualizations. Even if “displacement” is well reflected in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), it is still largely absent from global monitoring efforts on DRR. There are currently no standardized measurements and indicators to capture the relevance of displacement implications for DRR planning and implementation. A better understanding of displacement can provide the DRR community with a strong people-centered marker of disaster risk and its impacts, allowing for the improved identification of where, and what, efforts are required to reduce vulnerability that is associated with (or revealed by) displacement. This will also allow the leveraging of the life-saving, protective nature of mobility in the face of a hazard, while minimizing related individual risks and collective costs.
This report lays the foundation for this work: by highlighting existing data collection practices and methodologies, proposed research and analysis approaches, and data gaps. The report attempts to indicate possible ways forward for the management of displacement-related data, and its integration in DRR programming design, implementation and monitoring work, in support of relevant policies and operations. The report provides evidence and analyses used to develop a list of pilot indicators on displacement for DRR which will be shared separately in a shorter synthesis report which will be shared for public consultation in the coming weeks.
- An “Indicators” synthesis report, with a list of pilot metrics and indicators on displacement for DRR.
The disaster displacement indicators report is available on both the IOM Environmental Migration Portal and the IDMC website for public review until 11 November 2022 to ensure no important aspect has been overlooked in expert consultations to date. Comments will be collected via a Microsoft Form available here and thoroughly reviewed towards potential inclusion.
Pilot implementation of the indicators
Under funding from the German Federal Foreign Office, pilot implementation of the draft indicators is planned for late 2022 throughout 2023 in at least 4-5 pilot sites across Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Americas in countries impacted by climate change and vulnerable to natural hazards and associated data displacement via IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix and other iterative survey processes and historical data review and analysis.
At the same time, IOM and IDMC, with their country offices and partners, will engage governmental counterparts to include this work in relevant discussions on DRR.