UNHCR Information Management Toolkit

Information Management (IM) has been identified as a core responsibility of UNHCR by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and is also endorsed as a special project for the organization throughout 2012–2014. The Emergency Information Management Guidance Notes and Toolkit (hereafter “Toolkit”) is one of many steps towards operationalizing information management within UNHCR. This Toolkit presents UNHCR information and data management advice and tools meant to inform a coordinated humanitarian response during the first two to four months of a refugee emergency. The Toolkit is not intended to be an exhaustive resource on information and data management. Instead, the Toolkit offers information and data management guidance for emergency situations, and also provides a set of practical tools for use by anyone responding to the first phase of a refugee emergency. Where available, examples from the field of specific tools have been provided; in some cases, references for additional information on core UNHCR sectors are also cited. This Toolkit should be treated as an information management addendum to UNHCR emergency response guidance already in existence. The overall objectives of the Toolkit are to enable evidence-based decisionmaking to support UNHCR’s coordination role in refugee emergencies, and to enhance the targeting of emergency assistance and resources for persons of concern.