Inception Report High Frequency Phone Survey Indonesia

Executive Summary

UNHCR has carried out an assessment of the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on forcibly displaced people in Indonesia. The assessment relies on phone surveys using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) completed in January and February of 2022. The assessment has a dual objective. The report will shed light on who amongst the forcibly displaced in Indonesia have been adversely hit by the pandemic.

Objectives

The primary objective is to assess changes to socioeconomic indicators (income, living costs, access to health care and education) during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.
The findings from this report can inform UNHCR programming and mitigative interventions targeting those most severely impacted. The secondary objective is to test the effectiveness and feasibility of IVR as an alternative data collection mode. This will inform UNHCRs use of remote data collection techniques for future surveys.

Methodology

The survey used random sampling among 12,385 refugees and asylum-seekers who had a registered phone number in ProGres as of June 2021. 811 people responded to the survey out of 3,492 people targeted. The total population of persons of concern is 13,622.
Data was, as part of the main survey, collected using IVR. A latter feedback survey was conducted with a small subset of participants (50) as a phone survey by enumerators.

Results

The survey found multiple impacts on persons of concern’s socioeconomic profile:

 34.2% of respondents reduced or lost their income the past four weeks. 45% said that none of their basic needs are met. Of the respondents, those receiving cashbased intervention (CBI) support were less affected by both reduction of income and basic needs remaining unaddressed.

 55.6% had needed medical assistance the past four weeks and 21% said they had not been able to afford medicine.

 Of the respondents with children, 63.5 % have had to leave school in the past six months.

 In relation to COVID-19, 71.6% said they perceive the pandemic as a large threat.
This percentage was larger amongst persons of concern who do not receive any assistance. 75.7% of respondents were vaccinated with both doses. 13.5% had taken the first dose. The unassisted respondents were most likely to be unvaccinated.

Recommendations

For future rounds of the high frequency survey, it is recommended to:

1. Shorten the survey, the length of choice lists and the number of select-multiple questions.

2. Engage the respondents through community awareness and mobilization to ensure a higher response rate.

3. Incorporate qualitative feedback on the IVR methodology when conducting the next round.