Data and Displacement: Assessing the Practical and Ethical Implications of Targeting Humanitarian Protection

Data-driven practices of targeted humanitarian protection are in urgent need of assessment, since these raise a range of practical and ethical questions that directly impact at-risk populations. While the targeting of protection needs through the production of data is common practice, the proliferation of large-scale quantitative, biometric and visual data within the humanitarian field is unprecedented. Established in 2014, there are presently 10,055 datasets for 253 locations from 1219 sources on the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX). This project produces a timely and robust analysis of data-driven protection targeting, focusing on two contexts that are characterised by conflict and high numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs): northern Nigeria and South Sudan. It does so by assessing the implications of the production and use of large-scale data in targeting humanitarian protection, particularly on those most directly affected by such developments: IDPs themselves.

The increasing production and use of large-scale data is not unique to the field of humanitarianism. However, the stakes are particularly high when it comes to data-driven practices of targeting protection for those most at risk. Humanitarian interventions are designed to protect the most vulnerable groups, hence any misuse or miscalculation in the use of data can have a drastic effect on at-risk populations. Careful assessment of the practical and ethical implications of data-driven targeting of protection is thus foundational. It is often assumed that humanitarians can be trusted more than commercial organisations or governments in collating and using large-scale data, due to their mandate of 'do no harm'. Yet it is vital to examine the potential risks, exclusions and biases or vulnerabilities implicit in the production and use of such data. While data can enable quicker, efficient and improved evidence-based responses, critical questions surrounding processes of data collection and what counts as evidence, the ethics of data collection and its use, and the accountability and protection of the data produced in contexts of vulnerability are increasingly necessary.

Our research addresses these questions based on the research team's combined interdisciplinary academic and operational expertise. The project brings together academic researchers from the UK and Nigeria with practitioners from the International Organisation for Migration - the United Nations Migration Agency, which is responsible for the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM). DTM is the system deployed to track and monitor displacement and population mobility, and forms one of the largest data collectors on IDPs globally. Our project examines the work of DTM in the context of wider datasets used for the targeting of humanitarian protection in northern Nigeria and South Sudan. It focuses on practical and ethical challenges that arise in the collection and use of such data, and undertakes in-depth research with local stakeholders and internally displaced communities. The project asks: How effective is the data-based targeting of humanitarian protection in practice? Who benefits from such practices - and who is excluded? And how can the data-driven targeting be developed to reduce the chances of vulnerable groups falling through the cracks of humanitarian protection?

The project contributes: an interdisciplinary perspective on the practical and ethical implications of data-driven humanitarian targeting in sub-Saharan Africa; an operationally-driven analysis of the efficacy of data-driven humanitarian protection in contexts of conflict and displacement; a qualitative assessment of the impacts of the production and use of large-scale data for at-risk populations; and methodological insights regarding the utility of mixed methods approaches for the analysis of large-scale data.

Beneficiaries of this research with which the research team already have contact include:
- POLICY MAKERS AND DONOR COMMUNITIES: ALNAP, DFID, ECHO, ODI, Start Network, USAID,
- INTERNATIONAL, INTERGOVERNMENTAL, AND GOVERMENTAL AGENCIES: African Union, FAO, IOM, OCHA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UN Special Rapporteur for the Human Rights of IDPs, WFP
- NGOs/CIVIL SOCIETY: ACTED, British Red Cross, Community Empowerment for Progress, Confident Children Out of Conflict, Danish Refugee Council, ECS- Episcopal church of South Sudan, Girl Power Initiatives, Human Development Initiatives, Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, Impact Initiatives, Intercom Africa, IRC, 510 Netherlands Red Cross Data Initiative, Plan International, MapAction, Mercycorps, Missing Maps, MSF/Doctors without Borders, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Salvation Army, Save the Children, SEYP, UMCOR - United Methodist church,
- RESEARCHERS AND INFORMATION NETWORKS: Data Science and Ethics Group (DSEG), Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, International Association for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM), Joint Inter-sectoral Analysis Group, UN Global Information Management Working Group, Warwick Humanitarian Data Research Collective

The multi-dimensional nature of this project ensures that it will benefit a wide range of non-academic users. International donor communities will acquire improved understanding of the importance of ethically sound data-driven humanitarian aid, while policy-makers will have access to higher quality data in the development of evidence-based welfare and related policies. Research briefs and reports will be circulated to policy-making communities, along with additional publications targeted to maximise participation in project workshops. International, intergovernmental, and governmental agencies will also benefit from the research by gaining a deeper understanding of best practices in the field of data-driven humanitarian targeting. Although the project is a collaborative one involving IOM, additional representatives from this user community will also be consulted throughout the project, and will receive publications and invitations to project events. NGOs will have access to an operationally-driven and academically-sound evidence source, which will advance understanding of the practical and ethical implications of data-driven humanitarianism. Civil society groups will also benefit from having opportunities to share views, challenge skewed views or misinformation, and highlight practical and ethical concerns related to the data-driven targeting of humanitarian protection for at-risk populations. The project will maximise the impact of the research on this group through workshop participation, consultation processes, as well as publications and wider dissemination mechanisms. Researchers and information networks will also benefit from the contributions of the project to methodological and epistemic debates about the production and use of large-scale data in conflict settings. The outputs of this project will be widely circulated through email lists and social media, as well as through project events. University of Warwick Press Office will organise press releases, and the qualitative interviews will be accessible as a dataset via the UK Data Service.

Involving beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries throughout all stages of the research process is integral to the impact of this project, which will:
- Invite diverse beneficiaries to review the research (research design, data collection, review, and analysis)
- Consult a diverse international Advisory Board (research design, data collection, analysis, review, and dissemination)
- Ensure timely publication of initial findings via briefs and an openly accessible report, with accessible feedback mechanisms via workshops and social media (review and dissemination)
The research team will mobilise its extensive networks to maximise impact throughout the project lifetime.