Profiling and registration with Android smart phones (UNHCR)

18 Apr, 2016

ODK (Open Data Kit) and smart phones have proven to be useful for profiling exercises as well since the application allows to collect household as well as individual household member questions in one questionnaire. Also the possibility to gather GPS coordinates at household level as well as taking pictures (if required for verification or registration) can come in useful when conducted directly in the households. CartONG has supported FICSS (Field Coordination Support Section) as well as JIPS (Joint IDP Profiling Service) in several exercises throughout the last years.

- 2011: Santa Domingo, Refugee Registration/Verification as the Standard UNHCR Registration Platform was not in place and refugees were visited in their homes

- 2013: New Delhi, India, Urban Refugee and Migrant Profiling exercise, supporting JIPS

- 2014: Ivory Coast, supporting JIPS

From 2002 to 2011, Ivory Coast had faced a political crisis. This crisis has led to massive population displacement inside the country and outside the country. Since the end of the crisis in 2011, refugees and IDP’s are returning in large numbers.

In October 2011, United Nations Secretary-General has selected Ivory Cost as one of the three pilot-countries to test the Solutions Strategy. This project aim is to support voluntary repatriation, sustainable reintegration and assistance to host communities and provide a stable and economical life to these populations. The Coordinateur Résident, in collaboration with Ivory Cost Government, PNUD and UNHCR are in charge to develop the strategy.

In order reach a better understanding of the different populations and their needs, all actors involved in the Solution Strategy have decided to conduct a profiling of those returnees populations in West and South-West parts of Ivory Cost and Abidjan.

Data collection should be conducted in 3 districts, 13 departments and Abidjan through 80 enumerators within 16 teams managed by 7 supervisors and 3 survey managers. Focus Group Discussion will be conducted by 12 facilitators after the quantitative data collection has been completed.

For this project, CartONG supports technically JIPS, UNHCR and INS, (Institut National de la Statistique); the three instances leading the profiling exercise. CartONG coded the questionnaire to be ODK compliant and also trained the staff on data collection as well as Server management for the survey managers.