Standards and Training

Refworld contains several papers, manuals and tools that highlight standards to be adhered to when carrying out country research and/or drafting country papers. Below are listed a few.

Country Research Standards

• The use of country of origin information in deciding asylum applications: A thematic inspection (October 2010 - May 2011), Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency, 14 July 2011 (external link)
• The Refugee Roulette: The Role of Country Information in Refugee Status Determination, UK Immigration and Asylum Services, Immigration Advisory Service, Research, Policy & Information Unit, January 2010
• The Use of Country of Origin Information in Refugee Status Determination:Critical Perspectives, UK Immigration and Asylum Services, May 2009
• Country of Origin Information: Towards Enhanced International Cooperation, UNHCR, February 2004
• Researching Country of Origin Information: A Training Manual, ACCORD / COI Network & Training, April 2006 (in French)
• Judicial Criteria for Assessing Country of Origin Information (COI): A Checklist, International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ), November 2006 (external link)
• Common EU Guidelines for Processing Country of Origin Information (COI), European Union, April 2008
• Guide to Country Research for Refugee Status Determination (Update), By Elisa Mason, update published on 18 March 2002 (external link)

Publication Standards

• UNHCR Master Glossary of Terms, UNHCR, Rev.1, June 2006
• UNHCR Style Companion, UNHCR, February 2012
• UNHCR List of Abbreviations, UNHCR, Updated November 2006
• Introduction to Basic Legal Citation, By Peter W. Martin (LII 2007 ed.) (external link)

Training Modules

• Self-Study Module 1: An Introduction to International Protection. Protecting Persons of Concern to UNHCR, UNHCR, August 2005 (in French)
• Self-Study Module 2: Refugee Status Determination. Identifying Who is a Refugee, UNHCR, September 2005 (in French)
• Self-Study Module 3: Interpreting in a Refugee Context, UNHCR, January 2009
• Self-Study Module 5, Vol. I: Human Rights and Refugee Protection, UNHCR, December 2006 (in French)
• Self-Study Module 5, Vol. II: Human Rights and Refugee Protection, UNHCR, December 2006 (in French)
• Self-Study Module on Statelessness, UNHCR, 1 October 2012
• Self-Study Module: Resettlement Learning Programme, UNHCR, October 2009 (in Spanish)
• Other UNHCR training materials

Training

UNHCR's Division of International Protection (DIP), Protection Information Unit (PIU) offers possibilities for training on country research standards and the use of Refworld. In case of interest, please contact PIU at refworld@unhcr.org.

PIU was involved with other actors as part of the Reference Group of the "COI Network III", which comprised of 18 governmental and non-governmental organizations from 15 European countries, and also contributed to the initiative of the European Commission to arrive at "Common EU guidelines" for processing COI. It is also involved in the European Commission project to arrive at a "Common EU Portal" for country of origin information.

Since January 2008, PIU financially supports, and actively participates in, the European COI Training Network, which is co-ordinated by ACCORD.