The model is an ideal vehicle for compiling displacement estimates, but in reality we have found it difficult to populate systematically. We seldom receive comprehensive data from our partners for all of its components. This is often because the type of data specified is simply not collected or, when it is collected, it is not disaggregated. A primary data source may report the extent to which the number of IDPs has declined during the course of the year, but may not specify the reason for the decrease. Standardising the data collection Countries and contested territories We use the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 standard for coding countries and for mapping, but as the territories of Kosovo and Abyei do not have an official code assigned, we adopted the following: Kosovo (XKX) and Abyei (AB9). The remainder of this annex explains how we account for the main flows we report, and how they influence our estimates. It also explains how we have selected countries and events to include and why we have excluded some countries we have reported on in the past. It also outlines how we assess and express our confidence in the source data. The geographical referential we use is based on datasets such as the Global Administrative Areas (GADM) and the Global Administrative Unit Layers (GAUL) and other sources. The designations do not imply IDMC’s official endorsement or acceptance. We have continued to harmonise the approaches we use to monitor displacement associated with conflict and disasters – by identifying more events that caused displacement in the context of conflicts and by capturing more time-series data on caseloads of people displaced by disasters. That said, there are still some differences between the two approaches which reflect the availability of data and our ability to detect certain events and processes (see table A.2). || The Kosovo designation is in line with UN Security Council resolution 1244/1999 and the International Court of Justice’s opinion on Kosovo’s declaration of independence. Additional notes: || As the status of the Abyei area is not yet determined, for the purpose of monitoring we used the border representation of the 2005 peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. Table A.2: Comparison of main monitoring attributes for displacement associated with conflict and disasters 96 GRID 2017 Displacement monitoring attribute Conflict and violence Disasters Event-based Partial Yes Geography or situation-based Yes Partial Global coverage Yes Yes Quantitative threshold No No Enables reporting of number, or stock of IDPs Yes Not at the global level Covers incidents of new displacement Yes Yes Includes other inflows and outflows that determine the number of IDPs Yes, subject to No, lack of data availability Includes SADD Yes, subject to availability Yes, subject to availability Figures disaggregated based on age of source data Yes Not applicable Application of AHHS data Yes Yes