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.
ACCORD has been addressing the question of how Country of Origin Information can contribute to fair and efficient procedures of asylum and international protection and it has presented its answers in the manual Researching Country of Origin Information. The ACCORD manual, along with other documents and developments, forms an important foundation for EASO’s Report Methodology.
The conference aimed at strengthening a shared understanding of this methodology and the quality standards behind it, as well as building a community of practice around COI methodology. An exchange among COI researchers from government institutions, as well as civil society, and a discussion with sources and their working methods formed the core of the first two days. Day three was dedicated to OSINT workshops tailored for this conference.
Participants came from 28 countries including Canada and New Zealand to attend peer group discussions, workshops by experts from other fields, and an OSINT training day. Invited experts covered a range of themes from conflict data, to investigative research, to qualitative/academic research in challenging environments and OSINT research techniques.
We thank EASO, the invited experts and the participants for having contributed to the success of the conference!