Doing surveys during conflicts; Iraq to Libya Data from Conflict-Affected Regions: Filling the Blanks June 9-10, 2011, Brussels

Some Fafo Surveys in Conflict zones  Palestine (living conditions surveys and polls)  Particular post Gaza war 2009  Iraq living conditions survey (ILCS): 2004  Iraq election polls: 2005  Refugees in Northern Uganda: 2005, 2007  Iraqis in Jordan: Their Characteristics and Number: 2008  Sichuan Earthquake survey: 2008 (2009,2011)  WDR ‘Conflict, Security and Development’: 2010 (DRC, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Gaza, West Bank, Colombia)

Challenges when doing surveys in conflict  Methodology - sampling  Time  Training of local and own staff  Cooperation with Statistical offices and other local partners  Logistics and follow-up of quality  Highly politically sensitive contexts and projects

This is politics!!!  Working in a highly politically sensitive context  Many stakeholders; relate to them as early as possible  Governments, factions, interest groups  Humanitarians  UN (other internationals)  Media  Results often have huge impact  Might challenge former “truths”  “The need for sensation”  A difficult context to maneuver

Cooperation with local partners: Statistical offices and others  Often a part of the former regime  Tension between local partners/areas due to conflict  Need for update and education, training  New methods and approaches  Need for new standards  New technical equipment  New ways of thinking  Work together WITH local partners/stat. office  Close, continuous follow up, include analysis

Presents in the field, logistics and quality checks  Planning, planning, planning  Involve local partners  Be and stay involved  Build a team  Good systems for information flow  Real time quality checks  The importance of being present in the field, the supervision of the field organization/project  Include all members of the field organization  Take responsibility

Iraq living conditions survey 2004  Finances by UNDP  Cooperation with COSIT  Training of staff – new standards  Sampling (starting all over again)  Extreme security issues, for staff both from Fafo and from COSIT  The situation escalated rapidly during the fieldwork  After UN-bombing take non-Arabic Fafo staff out  Logistic administration and quality checks had to be done from abroad  Real time quality checks – re-communicated to the field  Very politically tense situation

Iraqis in Jordan 2008 – estimates of number and characteristics  Population of unregistered/illegal Iraqis in Jordan  Difficult sampling and interviewing  Politically sensitive  Many actors had stakes in the number  UNHCR  Jordanian government  US government  Humanitarian agencies  Cooperation with the Jordanian statistical office DoS  Agent of the Jordanian government, answers to the ministry