What is Refworld and why did UNHCR create it?
Refworld is an internet-based website – you can find it at www.refworld.org – and it is essentially a tool for protection. Specifically, it provides the kind of information most likely to be needed by those who are making protection-related decisions, such as refugee status determination, resettlement, voluntary repatriation and so on. Refworld has a wealth of information related to conditions in countries of origin, the domestic and international legal regimes that can impact persons of concern to UNHCR. It also contains policy and guidance that can help decision-makers, be they UNHCR staff around the world, national asylum officers, judges, lawyers and so on. In terms of why we created this tool, I would have to say that our desire to raise the quality of decision-making was paramount. When trying to determine whether someone is a refugee, access to accurate, reliable and updated information is vital. An ill-informed decision based on unreliable or outdated information could have ver
