Unfortunately, demographic and location information on displaced populations is not available for all countries and population categories. This information is more available in countries where UNHCR is operationally active and interestingly, less so in developed countries where States are responsible for data collection. Sex and age information is available for only two thirds of UNHCR’s population of concern while the coverage for location data is significantly higher, nearly 80 per cent. Demographic characteristics By the end of 2009, detailed demographic data was available for 21.8 million persons of concern in over 140 countries. This is the highest level on record. In relative terms, however, availability remained relatively stable compared to 2008 with 60 per cent coverage for persons of concern. The availability of data varied significantly depending on the type of population and the region. It was high for refugees (76%), IDPs (78%) and refugee returnees (86%); and low for IDP returnees (13%), others of concern (23%), and stateless persons (12%). The availability of data also differs by region. In Latin America and the Caribbean, demographic data was available for almost all populations of concern as compared to two-thirds coverage in Asia. In Africa, demographic information is known for slightly more than half (54%) of the population. The corresponding value for Europe is 43 per cent, an increase over 2008 due to the new availability of data in Germany. The overall significantly higher data coverage is the result of several factors including the progressive deployment and use of UNHCR’s registration software proGres (18), resulting in a higher number of countries being able to produce sex and age-disaggregated data. Another important reason is that, as part of its responsibilities in the cluster approach, UNHCR and its partners have successfully conducted a number of IDP profiling exercises, leading to more accurate IDP estimates in a number of countries. Demographic information on IDPs is now available for some 12.1 million people as compared to 9.8 million people in 2008. The available data by sex (21.8 million people) show that women represent about half (49%) of most populations falling under UNHCR’s responsibility, which is relatively consistent across regions. In terms of refugees, women represent less than half of these Fig 8 Percentage of women populations in most regions. The by population category | end-2009 lowest proportion of refugee women is to be found in Europe (44%), and the highest in the Central Africa and Great Lakes 47% 40% 50% 51% 50% region (53%). These averages, however, hide significant variations across population groups and locations. For instance, on average IDPs Returnees Stateless Refugees Asylumprotected/assisted (refugees) persons seekers women represent 51 per cent of by UNHCR refugee returnees but only 40 per cent of asylum-seekers in locations where data is available. In Chad, for instance, refugee women represent one-third (33%) of refugees in urban areas but up to 70 per cent of refugees in the Daha 1 camp. Information on the age breakdown was available for 14 million (38%) of the 36.5 million people of concern to UNHCR. The data coverage for refugees was relatively high (72%) due to the use of proGres. Some 45 per cent of persons of concern to UNHCR were children under the age of 18, 11 per cent of whom were under the age of five. Half of the population was between the ages of 18 and 18 The software proGres had been rolled out to 75 countries by the end of 2009. 14 2009 Global Trends