The ACCORD training manual “Researching Country of Origin Information” is now available in Korean. It was translated by UNHCR Korea.

Femke Vogelaar's summary of the dissertation she published in December 2020.

The Dutch Advisory Committee on Migration Affairs in July released an extensive report with recommendations on the use of COI. For the reports, current practices in Austria, Poland and the UK have been examined along with the Netherlands'.

An article in the International Journal of Refugee Law discusses standards regarding the use of COI in UK Upper Tribunal country guidance cases.

Sharon Rusu, former head of the IRB's Documentation Centre, was invited to speak at the joint EASO-ACCORD conference on COI methodology, but unfortunately had to cancel participation. With her kind permission, we're publishing the notes for the opening remarks she prepared. In them, Ms. Rusu gives insights into the early days of COI research and the development of quality standards.

ACCORD is happy to have welcomed representatives of the COI community at the joint EASO/ACCORD conference on COI methodology in Vienna. There were two occasions for this event: The 20th anniversary of ACCORD and the publication of the revised EASO COI Report Methodology.

EASO published a new COI report methodology, updating the 2012 version, as well as a style guide.

The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) published a practical guide on COI to assist judges and decision-makers in their use of COI. Additionally, EASO published an extensive judicial analysis produced by IARLJ-Europe on evidence and credibility assessment in the context of the Common European Asylum System. 

UNHCR and ACCORD have developed an e-learning course on country of origin information (COI). The course is built around a case study, and takes the learner through some of the main questions on COI research methodology, including source assessment.

The revised edition of the training manual “Researching Country of Origin Information“, published by ACCORD in 2013, is now available in Spanish. We thank UNHCR for commissioning the translation.