Recommendations include strong political commitment, recording injuries and deaths, adopting a comprehensive scope, benefiting from technological advances, developing and applying standards to improve data and facilitate its use, and determine the purpose and uses of data.
Strengthen Political Commitment. Having recognised the various benefits of casualty recording, states should come together, in partnership with others including international organisations and civil society, to commit to the principle of casualty recording and discuss avenues to promote and strengthen these practices.
Record Injuries as well as Deaths. Knowledge of the extent of non-fatal violent acts enhances the development of long-term adequate responses. Adopt a Comprehensive Scope. In order to best support the protection of civilians, it is important to understand how different types of violence are interconnected. To address this, it is recommended that casualty recorders monitor casualties from all forms of violence.
Benefit from Technological Advances. Data management systems, and the spread of affordable technological devices, can facilitate and improve the quality of casualty recording. Such technology can support the prompt recording of incidents, standardisation and sharing of data, and safe storage of information.
Develop and Apply Standards to Improve Data and Facilitate its Use. Data must be robust and credible in order to be applied effectively to the purposes identified above. Common principles and basic data standards for casualty recording should be developed, standards that relate to strong validation and confirmation mechanisms and quality checking procedures, having multiple sources of information, applying a transparent methodology, a commitment to impartiality and making data publicly available.
Determine the Purpose and Uses of Data. Casualty data should be used to inform broader structural and social changes that can sustainably reduce violence.
CASUALTY RECORDING: Assessing State and United Nations Practices; Joint Summary of Findings and Recommendations, pp 6-8
