Forced displacement is at a record high – and so is the data we have on it
With increasing numbers of forced displacements worldwide, fortunately the information needed to help them is becoming more available too.
Björn Gillsäter is the former Head of the World Bank-UNHCR Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement, based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Prior to this, he was the World Bank Group’s Special Representative to the United Nations in New York. Björn joined the Bank in 2001 as Senior Advisor to the Nordic-Baltic Executive Director. He brings over two decades of experience of working on multilateral affairs, both as a government official with the Ministry of Finance of Sweden, and with several international organizations. Some of the other positions he has held include the Alternate Executive Director at the African Development Bank, the Chief for Multilateral System Analysis with UNICEF, the Head of the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN), which is a function hosted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
With increasing numbers of forced displacements worldwide, fortunately the information needed to help them is becoming more available too.
Robust research and data are vital to guide evidence-based policy-making on forcibly displaced refugees and can be very helpful in dealing with the ongoing Ukraine crisis.
Knowledge gaps in countries that produce or host large populations of displaced people make some of the most vulnerable in society invisible to the policy-makers.