Methodological Refinement

The EGRISS Compiler’s Manual (CM) is a critical resource for improving statistics on refugees and IDPs. As an “living document,” it is regularly updated to reflect the latest advancements in the field. Following the endorsement of the International Recommendations on Statelessness Statistics (IROSS) in 2023, EGRISS is currently working to expand its coverage to include statelessness. 

This process ensures the CM remains comprehensive relevant for national statistical offices and other institutions, furthering EGRISS’ commitment to providing the tools and resources necessary for compiling accurate and comprehensive displacement statistics. The technical revision is conducting through TSG2 and following an EGRISS-wide consultation, the CM will be presented to the UN Statistical Commission.

In 2023, TSG2 published a methodological paper that proposed a standardised approach for identifying IDPs, refugees, and related populations through household surveys. This paper introduced specific questions and metadata designed to identify different statistical categories from the IRIS and IRRS frameworks. Since then, EGRISS members actively involved in survey implementation have been collecting lessons learned from the practical application of these and other questions incorporated into both forced displacement-specific surveys and wider national surveys.  

In 2025, this workstream was revitalized under the leadership of UNHCR and EGRISS Secretariat, to undertake a systematic review of case studies and review learning from cognitive testing, to standardize a set of identification questions for refugees and IDPs in household surveys that can be widely applied to improve harmonization of forced displacement statistics.

In the field of migration and displacement statistics, three key sets of recommendations guide global understanding and measurement: the International Recommendations on Refugee Statistics (2018), the International Recommendations on IDP Statistics (2020), and the recently revised Recommendations on Statistics of International Migration and Temporary Mobility (2025). 

Identifying the existing alignment, gaps and opportunities for further harmonization between these frameworks is crucial, as the populations they address – international migrants and refugees, internal migrants and internally displaced persons – often overlap or are closely related in practice. 

In 2025, TSG2 launched a workstream under the leadership of Statistics South Africa, to address this topic and advance methodological consistency in migration and displacement statistics. The work will include a desk review of the Recommendations alongside other relevant documents (e.g. regional guidelines) and review practical experience of countries, to support national statistical systems in developing a more coherent and standardized approach to measuring population movements and improving comparability across countries and regions. 

The IRIS outlines two measures related to the concept of durable solutions, based on the IASC Framework on Durable Solutions for IDPs: the exit measure to help determine outflows from the IDP statistical stock (see related research theme) and the progress measure to assess advancements towards durable solutions in a broader sense. Both measures involve comparison with a non-displaced ‘comparator population’ (see related research theme). The progress measure aims to allow decision-makers “to understand at a glance in which aspects of vulnerability IDPs are struggling compared to others […] and in which they are doing relatively well” (IRIS, page 55).  

TSG2 is working on this topic during 2025-2026, in the workstream led by the Joint IDP Profiling Service. Through a systematic desk review, empirical testing and wider consultations the process will help inform the development of a statistical measure for countries to assess progress towards durable solutions that can be used both to inform and monitor implementation of relevant national laws, policies and strategies.  

The IRIS outlines two measures related to the concept of durable solutions, based on the IASC Framework on Durable Solutions for IDPs: the ‘progress measure’ to assess advancements towards durable solutions (see related research theme) and the ‘exit measure’ to help determine outflows from the IDP statistical stock. Both measures involve comparison with a non-displaced ‘comparator population’ (see related research theme).  

No definitive guidance on measuring the end of internal displacement currently exists, meaning practices to make this assessment are varied. Statistically, this gap creates questions concerning when to stop counting people as IDPs or how to fully determine the outflow from the IDP stock. 

As committed in the IRIS, EGRISS is working to complete the “composite measure for overcoming key displacement-related vulnerabilities”, intended to support the production of official statistics on internal displacement by measuring exits from the IDP stock. TSG2 produced an initial paper in 2023 to assess the remaining methodological challenges to make it a fully workable statistical instrument. As the paper did not conclude on a concrete proposal, work is continuing under the leadership of the World Bank and the JDC to develop a concrete proposal that will be further discussed with affected countries and the wider EGRISS membership.

As outlined in both the IRRS and the IRIS, several measures rely on comparing the situation of refugees or IDPs with their “host communities” or another relevant non-displaced population, the comparator population. This is particularly relevant to set the targets or thresholds for measures related to refugee integration and durable solutions for IDPs (see related research themes), hence crucial for evidence-based decision making and shaping key integration policies. 

Despite the term being increasingly relevant in policy discourse and operations, definitions vary from the national or general population to more specific sub-groups. TSG2, under the leadership of UNHCR and Standford University, developed a methodological paper - Defining the comparator population for refugee and IDP statistics: From the concept of the “host community” to statistical definitions - that mapped, reviewed and empirically tested different options for this definition. The paper then outlines recommendations for a robust statistical definition of the comparator population that can be applied in different contexts and applications of forced displacement statistics. 

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to create a better future for everyone, everywhere. This includes refugees, IDPs, and stateless populations. But how do we know how these groups are faring? That’s where statistical inclusion, and subsequent, data disaggregation, comes in. Building on the 12 priority SDG indicators identified for disaggregation by displacement status, as well as the additional indicators identified as relevant for stateless populations in the IROSS, EGRISS aims to promote their use and provide guidance to assess the identified indicators. 

Published in October 2024, TSG2 developed a methodological paper under the leadership of IOM and the EGRISS Secretariat on this topic: Capturing priority SDG indicators in refugee, internal displacement and statelessness contexts. The paper provides an analysis of data collection practice and computation methods for 14 prioritized SDG indicators and identifies specific considerations that may be required to produce better data on refugee, IDP and stateless populations for these indicators.