Quarterly Digest December Cover

Violence-driven displacement in Mexico:
Why including internally displaced persons in national statistics is necessary to inform a protection-based response

Internal displacement in Central America and Mexico is often characterized as an urban phenomenon linked to criminal activity and violence, yet displacement from rural locations is not uncommon. Comprehensive, up-to-date, data on the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) is limited, in part, because of the inherent difficulties in collecting regular data on this “hard-to-reach” population who may be hesitant to report their situation. The variation in the years of reporting illustrates the lack of regular data collection for this population, and thus the importance of their inclusion in the official production of national statistics.