The Infant Mortality Fraction and Assessment of Mortality Data in Refugee Camps: A Comparative Study Using Data from HMD, DHS and UNHCR

Courtland Robinson, Johns Hopkins University
Yoonjoung Choi, Johns Hopkins University
Vladimir Canudas-Romo, Johns Hopkins University

While measuring mortality in refugee crises is vital for program planning, measurement is hampered by many factors: the need for rapid data, limited resources, insecure environments, and volatile population movements. Mortality data gathered in crisis settings present challenges to those who must use them, as it is not often clear whether variations reflect heterogeneity of crisis severity and context or whether they are due more to data problems and other factors. To assess data gathered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in more than 80 camps in 16 countries, we use data from the Human Mortality Database (including data from 37 European countries, spanning a period of four centuries) and from Demographic and Health Surveys (conducted in 61 countries between 1985 and 2007), using the infant mortality fraction (IMF), which is the ratio of two probabilities—infant mortality (1q0) and under-five mortality (5q0)—at a given point in time.