The Refugee Council of Australia began coordinating a review of Australia’s response to refugees and people seeking asylum using the RRI methodology in 2022. The review of the remaining 5 pillars is still underway.

This review is being undertaken by a team of staff, interns, and volunteers, with considerable input from key experts in the field. External verification of indicator assessment by international experts on refugee law and policy and support with applying methodology has been facilitated by DARA. 

The RCOA RRI coordination team includes Louise Olliff, Paula Cruz Manrique, Aníbal González Quinteros, and Jenn Watson. 

In order to gather a wide range of perspectives and evidence to support the assessment of the mostly qualitative indicators, RCOA has created surveys grouped around different areas of policy, legal, and practice.  More information about these surveys and how to contribute to the RRI Australia review can be found on the RCOA website – https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/refugee-response-index/

You can download the RRI using the link below.

Refugee Response Index 2021

The Refugee Response Index is a civil society led initiative designed to assess and monitor countries’ response to refugees and asylum seekers in an independent and comprehensive manner. It covers each component of an adequate refugee response and can be used in any country context, regardless of size and contribution to the global refugee response. With support from the European Commission (DG-INTPA), the Refugee Response Index was successfully pilot tested in Kenya and Costa Rica, and the findings from this process informed the refinement of the indicators and methodology. The detailed Guidebook and Questionnaire, comprising 6 pillars and over 160 indicators ranging from access to asylum through to making the international refugee system work, has now been finalised.

Several well-known global monitoring and data collection tools that address development, good governance, and other human rights measures have been supported by the international community for many years. Despite its global importance, there is no similar index on refugee protection and forced displacement issues. The Refugee Response Index is intend to fill that gap.

The Refugee Response Index is a civil society led initiative designed to assess and monitor countries’ response to refugees and asylum seekers in an independent and comprehensive manner. It covers each component of an adequate refugee response and can be used in any country context, regardless of size and contribution to the global refugee response.

With support from the European Commission (DG-INTPA), the Refugee Response Index was successfully pilot tested in 2021. The RRI tool is now being used to assess the situation in Australia, with more countries to follow.

A unique aspect of the RRI is that it is the first global Index with a specific focus on the well-being of refugees. As a comprehensive and independent assessment tool, it is envisaged that the RRI will help identify both positive practices and unmet needs with a view to informing the development of appropriate responses to counter restrictive policies and practices towards asylum seekers, refugees and other persons in refugee-like situation.

The RRI is comprised of 6 pillars, 22 components and 160 indicators. Similar to the methodology of other Indexes developed in the areas of humanitarian response, development issues, business relations and gender equality and representation, the RRI has been developed as an extensive questionnaire to collect both qualitative and quantitative data over a range of issues including access to asylum and recognition as refugees or other protected persons, through to durable solutions and enjoyment of rights.

With generous support from the European Commission (DG-INTPA), the RRI was finalized and is currently being pilot test in Costa Rica and Kenya. Experienced researchers in both countries have been engaged to conduct the data collection and provide feedback on the methodology, with a view to publishing the results in the coming months.

The country research team in Kenya is comprised of Dr Michael Owiso and Dr Dulo Nyaoro; and Costa Rica, Dr Koen Voorend and Dr Juan José Guillarte are leading this work.

An important aspect to the success of the pilot phase will be the quality and diversity of information and views and data collected. In this effort, the RRI Project Team and country researchers are reaching out to a broad range of actors including international, government and non-governmental organizations, as well as members of the refugee community.

Should you wish to learn more about the RRI process or be in contact with the country research teams, please reach out to: Ms Alesia O’Connor, RRI Project Coordinator, aoconnor@daraint.org or Ms Julia Durand, jdurand@daraint.org

As part of a Long Term Agreement with UNFPA, in consortium with Hera and Particip GmbH, DARA was appointed to conduct this assignment in March 2020.

The main focus of this evaluation is to assess whether the implemented activities of this DG ECHO funded project led to the achievement of the planned results as well as to the project’s objectives. The project components include: a) expanding service delivery of Social Service Centres (SSCs) by reinforcing human and physical assets, b) improving the service quality of SSCs, and c) strengthening social service policy for refugees and until 2019 it was implemented in 27 provinces.

The three specific objectives of the evaluation are to provide an independent assessment of the relevance and performance of the project; draw key lessons from past and highlight good practices; and provide clear and forward-looking strategic and actionable recommendations. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the evaluation is being conducted remotely. The team is currently working on the evaluation report and it is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

The overall objectives of the evaluation were: 1) to determine the extent to which the response has contributed towards national and international efforts in managing Venezuelan flows; and 2) assess the overall performance of IOM’s regional response through the contribution of each project’s results.

The scope of the evaluation was from May 2018 to December 2019, focusing on the global, regional response and country level response through the six regional projects funded by the CERF, PRM (responsible for two of the six projects), and the Government of the Netherlands, SIDA and Canada. A desk analysis of the performance of the regional response informs the development of the inception report.

The analysis of the regional documentation was the main source of information for the regional response and informed the analysis regarding the strategic positioning of IOM at a regional level. To collect in-depth learning (challenges and opportunities), good practices and anecdotal evidence of results in each of the areas of intervention, the evaluation team carried out three field visits to the following countries: Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, using a case study approach.

The purpose of the evaluation was to gather reliable information to improve ongoing and future IOM activities within the response to Venezuelan flows. Externally, it will promote accountability and transparency, which, in turn, will assist governments and other donors in their decision-making about future project funding.

The final report can be viewed here, with a 2-page summary also available.

The Refugee Response Index project team have been busily refining the methodology through a series of regional multi-stakeholder workshops in October and November. Held in Amman, Mexico City, Addis Ababa, and through a longitudinal approach in Spain, the workshops involved detailed consultation on the indicators with a broad range of experts, ensuring we are measuring the right things in the right way and considering all available data sources. The workshops also provided an opportunity to identify the different uses for the tool by national and international organisations, civil society groups, donors, states and others.

The workshops have stimulated much discussion and knowledge-sharing between refugee experts and practitioners at all levels. We are now reviewing the inputs from these sessions and we look forward to sharing our preliminary findings in a spotlight session during the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva on December 16. We are also developing a tool for partners in the field to collect data from refugees that will inform the design of the indicators.

The RRI analytical framework was defined in June 2017. It comprises 6 pillars that assess how states:

• Behave towards refugees in flight
• Provide legal recognition of their status
• Uphold the political, social and economic rights of refugees and facilitate coverage of their needs
• Create conditions for their self-reliance and integration, including challenging negative public misperceptions
• Contribute to the international refugee system
• Facilitate durable solutions

For more information contact Alesia O’Connor, aoconnor@daraint.org

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the sudden passing of our dear colleague and friend, Luis Peral, on Monday 15th July.

Luis will be sorely missed. All of us at DARA are incredibly grateful to have enjoyed his brilliance, support and dedication as Manager of the Refugee Response Index project, and we will forever be thankful for his contribution to our organisation.

Luis’s collaboration with DARA began as early as 2004 when he was at the Carlos III University, covering many topics over the years including joint projects developed during his time as Senior Analyst for FRIDE.

Luis’s commitment to the rights of refugees has been a constant driver throughout his career, as an academic and professor sharing his passion with students as a professor in refugee law at Carlos III University, IE, IBEI and as a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan Law School. From 2006 to 2014, he served on the Editorial Board of the Refugee Law Reader, an academic network that constantly updates developments in refugee law and policy.

Luis was known for combining passions and among others established the Cuenca Colloquium on International Refugee Law in 2006 with his friend, Professor James C. Hathaway. Over the years he set up and contributed to building research programs and projects in/for different institutions on topics related to EU foreign policy and pressing challenges for the EU, global trends for the EUISS, and democratic innovation for the Club de Madrid. Most recently, in his work with mediatEUr, he travelled to Jordan and Lebanon as part of the Future of Syria project, conducting group discussions with Syrian refugees on the future of their country.

Luis was an expert in peace and conflict resolution, participating in the development of confidence-building measures in Abkhazia-Georgia, as well as between Colombia and Venezuela. He significantly contributed to the establishment of a mechanism for monitoring the Colombian peace process and worked on international proposals for the settlement of the Western Sahara conflict. In Tunisia and Egypt, he was involved in supporting local actors to create transitional justice mechanisms and facilitating democratization processes. Luis was also a Research Fellow at FRIDE (2004-06) and the Director of the Conflict Resolution and Crisis Management Program at CITpax (2006-08).

Luis will be remembered for many things. His vibrant personality and inestimable enrichment to the academic sector, in particular in the field of human rights, international humanitarian law and refugee rights. Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathy go out to his family and his many friends.