This publication calls for an update to the existing international guidance for profiling, and highlights the successes of the current Guidance on IDP Profiling published by OCHA and NRC-IDMC in 2008. These successes include providing profiling’s original definition, cementing the centrality of protection into internally displaced person (IDP) data practice, and supporting the role of collaboration as essential. Building upon this, and the combined experience of the JIPS team and its wider network, this book highlights eight key points that are in need of revision.
These include four chapters advocating for concrete changes to be made:
- Questioning whether IDP profiling is only about IDPs
- Highlighting the problematic focus on precise population figures
- Arguing for the importance of recognizing and applying a diversity lens
- Pushing forward the role of qualitative data
And four more chapters to provoke broader discussion:
- Calling for practical guidance on collaboration for consensus building
- Better defining the role of profiling in emergencies
- Pushing the purpose of profiling beyond durable solutions
- Arguing for a more responsible guidance on methodologies
This publication is a joint effort from JIPS and the Feinstein International Center. It is based on seven years of JIPS’ operational experience supporting profiling exercises in IDP and refugee contexts globally.