Denmark aims to strengthen the availability and accessibility of data on migration and displacement, reflecting the strategic focus on migration in its development co-operation policy. It also provides technical assistance, implemented by Statistics Denmark, its national statistical office, to strengthen general statistical capacity in select partner countries and in the context of EU-financed twinning projects.
Data for Development Profiles
Official Development Assistance for Data and Statistical Systems
Denmark
Strategies, actors and funding
Denmark’s development co-operation system is anchored within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and is guided by The World 2030, Denmark’s strategy for development co-operation and humanitarian action. The strategy focuses on the intersections of development and four priority areas: 1) security; 2) migration; 3) inclusive and sustainable growth; and 4) democracy, human rights and gender equality.
In the context of Denmark’s Strategic Sector Cooperation initiative, the MFA provides funding for technical assistance to build general statistical capacity in co-operation with Statistics Denmark. Launched in 2015, this initiative aims to engage Danish public authorities in strategic partner countries to: help put in place conditions for sustainable development; contribute to stronger bilateral relationships; and open doors for the Danish private sector by engaging it in delivering solutions to development challenges in partner countries. In 2019, the MFA and Statistics Denmark entered into co-operation agreements with the national statistical offices of Ghana, Morocco and Viet Nam, with a focus on strengthening statistical production and dissemination. In the past, direct funding was also provided to Mozambique’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) in combination with technical assistance provided by Statistics Denmark (see below).
The range of activities supported by Statistics Denmark includes technical assistance on all aspects of statistical production as well as for organisational management and statistical legislation and policy. Projects are designed in close co-operation with the partner institution and typically take the form of a one‑year start-up phase to determine the scope of the project followed by a three-year implementation phase. During this time, experts from Denmark usually conduct short missions every few months while a local project co-ordinator, a position funded as part of the project, ensures continuous progress on the ground. In addition to projects funded by the MFA, Statistics Denmark also provides assistance to sister organisations in the context of EU-funded twinning projects in pre-accession and neighbouring EU countries as well as in the context of projects funded by the World Bank, other providers or partner governments. Some project examples include:
EU-financed twinning projects have accounted for the largest shares of Statistics Denmark’s technical assistance projects in past years. They include co-operation projects with the national statistical offices of Armenia (2011-13 and 2015-17), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2011-13, 2014‑16 and 2018-20), Egypt (2008-10), Georgia (2019-21), Israel (2016-18), Jordan (2013-15), Kosovo (2013-16), and Ukraine (2011-13 and 2013-15).
Support to Mozambique’s INE ran from 2003 to the end of 2017. Between 2003 and 2007, Denmark, Norway and Sweden co-financed both technical assistance and statistical activities. A consortium, Scanstat, was formed, with Statistics Denmark taking the lead and Statistics Norway and Statistics Sweden also providing technical assistance. From 2008 to 2017, technical assistance provided by Scanstat was financed through the INE’s Common Fund supported by many different donors.
In line with Denmark’s focus on migration and development, in 2018, the MFA also funded two data- and statistics-related projects related to migration:
First, it committed USD 17.6 million to the World Bank-UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement. The centre’s mission is to enhance the ability of stakeholders to take timely and evidence-informed decisions that can improve the lives of people affected by displacement. It focuses on the collection, analysis and dissemination of primary microdata on demographic and socio‑economic characteristics of refugees, internally displaced persons, stateless people, returnees, asylum seekers and host communities. The centre is located at UN City in Copenhagen, managed and owned equally by the World Bank and the UNHCR and governed by representatives of the two multilateral organisations as well as representatives of donors and refugee-hosting countries.
Second, USD 1.6 million were committed to the creation of a Central Migration Data Management Solution for Jordan (MIDAM), implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development. This project aims to put in place a system that allows for direct access to a consolidated pool of data and facilitate data sharing among the different government bodies which gather datasets related to foreigners in Jordan.
In 2014-15, Denmark also supported United Nations Global Pulse, the UN Secretary-General’s initiative on Big Data and artificial intelligence for development, humanitarian action and peace.
According to OECD data and research,1 Denmark disbursed a total of USD 15.3 million (in 2018 prices) to data- and statistics-related activities between 2017 and 2019 (Figure 1). Of this total, around 90%, USD 13.8 million, were linked to the World Bank-UNHCR Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement and 6% (USD 0.9 million) to the MIDAM project in Jordan. While Denmark disbursed only around USD 400 000 (2018 prices) to data- and statistics-related activities – mostly as technical assistance – between 2014 and 2017, there was a significant increase in disbursements for data and statistics in 2018 in connection with the two migration projects. Co-operation in the context of the Strategic Sector Cooperation initiatives in Ghana and Morocco (see above) accounted for 2-3% of the total over these three years.
Figure 1. Denmark – ODA to data and statistics
Note: ODA: official development assistance; CPA: country programmable aid.
Box 1. Denmark – related documents
Strategies, project documents, evaluations
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (2017): The World 2030
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (2018): Strategic Sector Cooperation
Statistics-focussed Strategic Sector Cooperation projects in Ghana and Morocco
Information about the World Bank-UNHCR Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement
MFA-funded project for a Central Migration Data Management Solution in Jordan, 2019-20
Note
← 1. The analysis in this profile is based on official data reported by members to the OECD’s Creditor Reporting System. It is published under the responsibility of the OECD. OECD analysts mined the database using a text search with manual curation. Where relevant, members contributed additional data to fill gaps. Please see the methodological annex for further details on the data analysis.