The 2026 United Nations World Data Forum is planned to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 9 to 12 November 2026. EGRISS is co-leading three sessions on the programme, including Identifying refugees and internally displaced persons in surveys. Register here for in-person participation by 1 October 2026.

Reliable SDG disaggregation for refugees and IDPs depends on how forced displacement is identified in household surveys — yet despite growing recognition of the issue, with almost 100 examples reported through the GAIN Survey between 2020 and 2024, standardised, ready-to-use questions aligned with the international recommendations are still needed to accelerate progress ahead of 2030. Building on a joint EGRISS initiative supported by UNHCR’s Data Innovation Fund, this panel draws on desk reviews, cognitive testing, and country pilots to examine how better identification can bridge the gap between displacement statistics and SDG monitoring, outlining a roadmap inspired by the Washington Group on Disability’s work standardising disability statistics. Speakers will cover how question design choices affect displacement-related SDG indicators, how identification approaches have fared in practice, how global survey programmes can help scale impact, and how emerging technologies — including AI-assisted document scanning — can support data quality without adding respondent burden. Co-organised with UNHCR, UNICEF, JIPS, Morocco’s High Commission for Planning, the Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, and the UN Statistics Division.