Data Collection and Evidence Building to Support Education in Emergencies

The second edition of NORRAG Special Issue (NSI) published in April 2019, is dedicated to data collection and evidence building to support Education in Emergencies (EiE). It focuses on why data and evidence are crucial for understanding and addressing situations of emergency and protracted crises and provides insight into the ethical and material challenges when gathering evidence. NSI 02 illustrates the lack of data and evidence about good practices and critical needs of children in emergency situations and its consequences.  

As many parts of the world continue to experience protracted conflict and displacement, the various stakeholders that make up the EiE field—the communities directly impacted by crises; national governments in both crisis-affected and host countries; local, national, and international organizations; academic institutions; and donors—must continue our collective efforts to generate robust, quality evidence to support effective policies, programs, and practices in these settings. It is apparent from the enclosed articles that there is no single way to measure effectiveness, and challenges to providing quality EiE require creative and holistic approaches across the qualitative- quantitative spectrum. A strong evidence base reflects the needs of those most acutely affected by crisis and conflict through responsive, timely, and participatory methodologies.

Overall, this issue provides contributions that further exemplify the call for more and better data in EiE, with specific programmatic actions to be taken by institutions as well as policy planning and implementation that needs to be undertaken by governments.