JDC ANNUAL REPORT
2025
Image: © UNHCR/Gwenn Dubourthoumieu
Foreword
“ When resources are scarce, the quality of decisions matters—and decisions are only as good as the evidence behind them. This must include data on forcibly displaced people”
— Shubham Chaudhuri, Director of the Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) Group at the World Bank
“Without reliable socioeconomic data on forcibly displaced people, the investments needed to support longer-term solutions are far harder to justify or target effectively”
— Dominique Hyde, Director of External Relations at UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
Executive Summary
Global displacement is approaching 120 million, intensifying pressure on governments and partners to move beyond short-term responses. High-quality, timely data on forcibly displaced people (FDPs) are now essential for shaping sustainable, development-oriented solutions and reducing long-term aid dependency.
Evidence is driving better outcomes. Countries with robust displacement data are better able to access development financing, strengthen national systems, mobilize domestic resources, and attract private investment. Where data are lacking, responses remain fragmented and reliant on parallel structures.
The Joint Data Center (JDC) plays a central role in this shift by helping countries integrate displacement into national statistical systems. Embedding displacement into routine data operations enables governments to assess needs across populations and make more informed planning, policy, and investment decisions.
At the midpoint of its 2024–2027 Strategy, the JDC’s impact is clear. Since 2021, JDC-supported data and analysis have contributed to national development programs totaling US$4.7 billion across multiple countries. In 2025, the number of national statistical systems explicitly including FDPs rose from 18 to 25, and publicly accessible, representative datasets on FDPs increased by over 40 percent—substantially strengthening the evidence base.
Image: © UNHCR/Jaime Giménez
Impact in 2025
Evidence Informing Policy and Programs
US$4.7 billion in national development programs across eight countries since 2021— supporting investments in education, health, livelihoods, and infrastructure
Malaysia
HARMONY Survey strengthening the evidence base for policy dialogue on economic participation
Moldova
Analysis of barriers to refugee employment informing the national refugee response plan and labor market discussions
Expanding and Institutionalizing Inclusion in National Statistics
25 national statistical systems now explicitly include FDPs (up from 18 in 2024), providing clearer evidence on incomes, employment, and access to services—supporting planning, budgets, and policy decisions
Honduras
IDPs included in the national survey without external financing
EGRISS
International recommendations guiding integration into official statistics and improving comparability
Innovation and Methods
Geospatial approaches
Improving identification of displacement settlements in hard-to-reach areas
Synthetic data
Expanding secure access while protecting confidentiality
Capacity Strengthening
National statistical offices are increasingly able to generate and use socioeconomic data on displaced populations as part of routine operations
Survey operations underway in Bangladesh, Kenya, Mali, Djibouti, Mozambique, South Sudan, Yemen, Mauritania
Workshops, datathons, and partnerships translating data into insights for policy and operations
What This Means
Every dollar invested by the JDC helps strengthen government capacity to produce and use displacement data.
Including displaced populations in surveys makes them visible in the evidence shaping policy and investment decisions—supporting more sustainable responses and pathways to self-reliance.
Expanding the JDC Portfolio
Demand remains high
proposals submitted from World Bank and UNHCR teams
requested
countries covered
Following joint technical and strategic review:
proposals approved
allocated
This reflects strong and growing demand for displacement data to inform policy and investment decisions.
Image: © UNHCR/Charity Nzomo
Statistical Inclusion
Anchoring Inclusion in National Systems
Statistical inclusion remains central to enabling more sustainable responses. This is reflected in how displacement is increasingly treated as a routine part of national data collection—integrated into household, labor force, and enterprise surveys rather than addressed through one-off exercises.
Reflecting this shift, 25 national statistical systems now explicitly include FDPs (up from 18 in 2024), generating more consistent, comparable data with host populations on incomes, employment, and access to services—informing how governments plan and allocate resources.
Expanding Inclusion Through National Surveys
In Lebanon, a sub-national Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) covered host communities, displaced Syrians, and Palestinian refugee camps—enabling comparisons across groups and identifying disparities.
Survey operations are underway in Kenya, Bangladesh, Mali, Djibouti, South Sudan, Yemen, Mozambique, and Mauritania.
In several contexts, FDPs are included in nationally representative surveys for the first time. These efforts expand data on welfare and living standards while strengthening national capacity to produce decision-grade evidence.
Institutionalizing Statistical Inclusion
Earlier investments are becoming embedded in national systems:
- Honduras — IDPs included in the national household survey without external financing
- Central African Republic — displaced and stateless populations integrated into the census and upcoming MICS
This reflects a shift from externally supported activities to routine national practice.
Advancing Statistical Inclusion Globally
Global partnerships continue to reinforce this agenda:
- Inclusion highlighted at the Global Refugee Forum (2025)
- Progress under the Multistakeholder Pledge on Statistical Inclusion
- Continued engagement with EGRISS to strengthen international standards
- Technical collaboration in Latin America to improve measurement approaches
What this Means
✓ Growing alignment around statistical inclusion
✓ Stronger consistency across countries
✓ Inclusion becoming part of the global data architecture
Targeted Data and Analysis for Policy and Operations
Targeted data and analysis, together with integration into national statistical and survey systems, address evidence gaps and inform policy dialogue, planning, operational responses, and investment decisions.
Image credits: UNHCR – Malaysia (Patricia Krivanek); Moldova (Mark Macdonald); Sudan (Mohamed Ahmed Ishag); Lebanon (Road to Films); Malawi (Hélène Caux); Peru (Nicolo Filippo Rosso); Uganda (Martin Jjumba); final slide (Hasan Alabdallah)
Global Dialogue and Research Partnerships
The JDC continues to convene governments, researchers, and partners to strengthen collaboration.
What This Means
✓ Demand for policy-relevant data is increasing
✓ Stronger links between research and decision-making
✓ A more connected global data ecosystem
Moving forward
As the JDC enters the second half of its 2024–2027 Strategy, the work ahead builds directly on what 2025 has shown is possible. Nationally led data systems are taking root. Evidence is reaching decision-makers. And the case for investment in high-quality displacement data has never been more clearly demonstrated.
The next phase will go deeper. Household and enterprise surveys will be used more systematically to understand labor market dynamics—not just whether refugees are working, but what skills they bring, what host economies need, and where the real opportunities for inclusion lie. Analytical work will expand across education, employment, and economic inclusion, with a sharper focus on helping governments and partners translate data into policy and programming that support long-term self-reliance.
This agenda connects directly to two strategic opportunities that will shape the partnership’s direction. UNHCR’s new High Commissioner has set a clear goal: to halve the number of refugees in protracted situations who remain dependent on humanitarian assistance over the next decade. That ambition cannot be achieved without a sustained, evidence-based understanding of who those refugees are, what barriers they face, and what pathways to self-reliance are realistically within reach.
At the same time, the World Bank Group’s refreshed approach to fragility and conflict-affected settings recognizes that timely data, tailored responses, and economic opportunity are not optional features of a good response—they are its foundation.
Generating that evidence—and ensuring it reaches the institutions that can act on it—is precisely what the JDC is positioned to do.