1 INTRODUCTION
The IDP Profiling Project Somalia is a Somalia Protection Cluster/IDP Task Force pilot initiative that has developed and tested tools for profiling of internally displaced persons (IDPs) with the aim of providing overall information on IDPs for global monitoring as well as proving context specific information to facilitate preparation of local assistance to IDPs. The project has been guided and monitored by a core group of agencies consisting of UNHCR, UNOCHA, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), and Danish Refugee Council (DRC), with support from UNHABITAT, UNICEF and other members of the Protection Cluster Work Group/IDP Task Force. Implementation in the field has been led by DRC while UNHCR has been handling data management and proving support to report production. The project has been based on the draft Guidelines for IDP Profiling developed by Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
The project applied simple random sampling in defined IDP settlements. Given the nature of these IDP settlements, this sampling method was found appropriate and sufficient. The sampling was made on the basis of an estimation of the IDP population in any given settlement. This estimation, in turn, was based on previous surveys, reports and updates from agencies operating in the area, and information from local authorities and IDP settlement leaders. The tools applied were focus group discussions/participatory assessments and household interviews. Focus group discussions were held with small groups of selected settlement representatives such as elder, religious leaders, and settlement management. They served partly as a 'door opener' to the settlements and partly as a way of providing a certain basic knowledge of the settlement against which the interviewers could assess the information obtained in the household interviews. This basic knowledge also served as a simple frame of reference in the subsequent process of data analysis. Household interviews were considered the most appropriate and effective way of systematically gathering the type of data wanted for the profiling.
The project developed a long questionnaire and a shorter version with a selection of the questions from the long version. However, after testing both of these in Bossaso, it became clear that the long questionnaire took too long time and discouraged people to take part in the interviews. It was therefore decided that after Bossaso, the short questionnaire should be the only one used, but in a slightly extended version.
Data from the questionnaires were transferred to the database at UNHCR Branch Office Somalia in Nairobi. A Standard Report was then been produced on the basis of the raw data in the database. In principle, such a report lists all the answers provided by the respondents in the household interviews. Based on the Standard Report, the present profiling report provides simplified overviews of selected parts of the raw data, makes minimal analyses, and points to potential fields of interests for further analysis. While this will be sufficient in some situations, there will in other situations be a need for more sector-specific in-depth analyses or a need to focus on specific settlements or sections of the IDP population. This may be done by consulting the database directly, thus getting more details than the present report provides, and by linking the different data fields in the database. The present report provides examples of such linking. Agencies with more detailed or sector-specific interests are encouraged to contact Protection Unit, UNHCR Branch Office Somalia, Nairobi, for assistance in more advanced data extraction.
The project carried out surveys in five locations: Bossaso and Gaalkacyo in Puntland, Mogadishu and Baydhaba in South/Central, and Burco in Somaliland. Reports on findings have been prepared for each of these locations. In addition, a separate Process Documentation Report has been prepared describing and analysing the process of developing and implementing the project and lessons learned. Some of the lessons concerning inappropriate formulations of questions in the questionnaire were learned so late in the process that they could not be corrected before the work was done. Where this is the case, a note is made in the present report to explain apparent discrepancies.
1.1 Bossaso
The town of Bossaso in Puntland was the first location for IDP profiling under this project. The implementing partner was the local NGO, Association for Integration and Development (AID), who worked under supervision of DRC project staff.
Both the long and the short questionnaires were used here to gain experience with both forms. The sample size was 10% for each of the two forms, i.e. a total sample size of 20% of the estimated IDP population in the area. Since both forms were used, it means that for all the questions in the short form, the sample was 20%, while for the questions exclusively in the long form, the sample size was 10%. Consequently, in the following presentation of findings, there will be references to a total of both 473 (10%) and 937 (20%), depending on the questions.
Basic data on Bossaso survey
Location: | Bossaso District, Bari Region, Puntland |
District code (UN code system): | SO0401 |
Estimated total IDP population: | 25,000 persons (4700 households) |
Number of settlements surveyed: | 19 (see list of settlements in Annex 1) |
Period of survey: | Nov 2006-Jan 2007 |
Total number of households interviewed: | 937 (473 using long form, 464 using short form) |
Respondents: | Female: 709 (76%), male: 228 (24%) |
Sample size: | 20% of estimated total IDP population (10% for the short form and 10% for the long form) |
GPS readings were taken for all the
surveyed settlements in Bossaso with the aim of producing a map showing
their exact location. This map is attached in a jpeg-format as Annex 3.
On request, a pdf-format map may be obtained from the Protection Unit,
UNHCR Branch Office Somalia, Nairobi; this format provides more details
and allows zooming in on selected areas of the town.