Data and Displacement
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Project Summary
Data and Displacement assessed the data-based humanitarian targeting of assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in two contexts that are characterised by conflict and high levels of displacement: northern Nigeria and South Sudan. It examined the production and use of large-scale data targeting processes in each case, focusing on the operational and ethical challenges that arise in the collection and use of such data.
The project employed mixed methods, combining a range of data analysis techniques with qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews. It emphasised the importance of involving local stakeholders in the assessment of data-driven processes of targeted assistance, in particular IDPs themselves. In so doing, the project aimed to explore issues such as barriers to participation in data collation processes for ‘at-risk’ groups, the implications of data-based targeting on intersecting and spatial inequalities, and the impacts of large-scale data use for humanitarian principles such as ‘do no harm’.
This project was jointly funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (formerly UK Department for International Development – DFID), under the Collaborative Humanitarian Protection Programme.
Research Ouputs
Academic Articles
2025: You Already Know Enough: Certainty and Ignorance in Data-Driven Humanitarianism Vicki Squire and Briony Jones Geopolitics (Online first)
2024: Engaging Data Literacies in Displacement Vicki Squire, Ọláyínká Àkànle, Briony Jones, Kuyang Logo, and João Porto de Albuquerque Journal of Humanitarian Affairs (5:3)
2023: Data gathering and utilization: humanitarian targeting and ethical issues in northeastern Nigeria Olufunke Faheyun et al. Journal of International Humanitarian Action (8:6)
2023: Coloniality and frictions: Data-driven humanitarianism in North-Eastern Nigeria and South Sudan Vicki Squire and Modesta Alozie Big Data and Society (10:1)
Policy Briefs and Reports
2022: Datafication of the Humanitarian Sector: Efficacy and Ethics Download here
2022: Data, Displacement, and Humanitarian Protection in Nigeria Download here
2022: Ethics and Efficacy of Data-Driven Humanitarian Assistance in South Sudan Download here
2022: Humanitarian Crises and Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria Download here
Full Report Published
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Contact
Principal Investigator
Lead Research Fellow
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