Côte d'Ivoire - JIPS - Joint IDP Profiling Service

Côte d’Ivoire

Following its second civil war in 2011, during which tens of thousands of people were internally displaced, Côte d’Ivoire was chosen as a pilot country to implement a durable solutions strategy under the UN secretary general’s policy decision on ending displacement in the aftermath of conflict. The UN Country Team and Resident Coordinator requested JIPS’ support in 2012 for a profiling exercise in both rural and urban areas to help inform the process.

The aim was to paint a comprehensive picture of the displacement situation in the country, analysing the situation according to the IASC Framework on Durable Solutions for IDPs, and establishing an evidence base to inform the planned strategy.

Project overview

Profiling for durable solutions in Côte d’Ivoire (2012-2014)
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) worked together to support the Ministry of State, Ministry of Planning and Development, and the National Institute of Statistics to implement an extensive profiling exercise in areas of Côte d’Ivoire worst affected by displacement. JIPS provided technical support throughout the process, which covered rural areas in the west and south-west of the country and several urban areas such as Abidjan, Boake and San Pedro.

The aim was to provide partners with a better understanding of protracted and recent displacement and return movements. UNHCR and UNDP worked closely with Côte d’Ivoire’s National Statistics Institute (INS) to develop a methodology that provided for a broad analysis to inform both the humanitarian and development aspects of the country’s durable solutions strategy.

Profiling process & JIPS’ support

We undertook a scoping mission to Côte d’Ivoire in January 2014, during which we supported the profiling partners in setting the objectives of the profiling exercise, drafting the methodological framework and initiating the establishment of a coordination platform to ensure a collaborative process.

Given the scale of the exercise, we deployed a technical coordinator and advisor to the country and conducted an extended support mission from March to May focused on the technical and operational aspects of the exercise. This included the development and delivery of field training sessions and the piloting of the data collection tools.

Implementation suffered from significant delays caused by a national census, the annual rainy season and the Ebola outbreak in the region, which affected access to some western areas of the country. Data collection was finally completed in September 2014, covering six departments in the west (Duékoué, Guiglo, Daloa, Man, Bangolo and Blolequin) and 4 departments in the south-west of the country (Tabou, Soubré, Sassandra, San Pedro) as well as the capital, Abidjan. After processing and cleaning the data, INS worked on parameters to extrapolate the findings to the overall target populations with support from JIPS.

A multi-stakeholder committee was established for the data analysis and reporting phases of the exercise, which ensured that the thematic expertise of various different partner organisations was tapped into throughout the process.

Impact & lessons learned

Profiling results helped inform the durable solutions strategy which was developed alongside the data analysis process. Although the profiling report itself was never published, aligning implementation of data analysis and strategy development still enabled significant exchange between the respective penholders and partners.

Lessons learned concerned the relationship between profiling and national census implementation. Similarly, experience on process management of collaborative processes between humanitarian and development partners were also captured.

Given our strategic focus on profiling for durable solutions, the Côte d’Ivoire exercise was an opportunity to glean first-hand operational experience to expand our expertise and that of our partners. The insight gained fed into the development of tools, guidance and training material and also provided justification for the subsequent development of common indicators for durable solutions at the global level.

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