Protracted Displacement Economies 2021-2023

The project considers five pairs of countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)/Uganda, Ethiopia/Somalia, Lebanon/Syria, Myanmar/Thailand, and Pakistan/Afghanistan. Research was conducted with partners in the primary focus country of each pair of countries (the first mentioned). This research was attentive to the cross-border dynamics of the protracted displacement economy with the other countries in each pair (the second mentioned). A household survey approach comprising a baseline survey and one follow-up panel survey (except in Myanmar which only had the baseline survey) was a central part of this project’s research.  

The 15 research locations (three each from the five primary focus countries) were purposively selected, making sure that both cities and camps providing refuge to the displaced are included, and that there is data for a sampling frame (i.e. a list of all households to be studied) and that the sites are accessible to the researchers. Locations were selected to avoid an exclusive focus on displaced people. In camps (which are exclusive to displaced people), a portion of the local community outside the camp was also surveyed. The purpose was to collect a survey dataset for intra- and cross-country comparisons.

Focus groups informed the design of the initial survey instrument, ensuring that questions were as comprehensible as possible and relevant to the local context. The survey instrument comprised a core section that was used across all five countries, with short country- and location-specific additions to reflect the concerns of local stakeholders. The instrument was designed jointly by UK researchers and international partners in English and then translated by international partners into nine other languages. The survey was conducted using tablets and the open-source Kobo Toolkit software with multi-language capability.

The questions covered standard short measures of: gender, age, multidimensional poverty and wellbeing, displacement/mobility history, livelihoods, social care, and other support including non-financial support. In addition to these household-level questions, individual questions were included for the respondents on attitudes about contacts with neighbors, collective organisation, sources of emotional support, and plans and hopes for the future. Questions shared across all countries have standard responses which maximise the potential for intra- and cross-country comparison of this dataset. 

The survey considered the entire displacement-affected community. The baseline survey in 2021 included 14504 households selected randomly in each of the 15 locations. The selection of individuals from within a household to respond to the questionnaire was fully random, stratified by sex. Two years after the baseline survey, in 2023, 1779 households were re-surveyed in four countries (a repeat survey was not done in Myanmar).