Transparency is one of the key challenges when dealing with sensitive data concerning armed violence. Protection of the victims and the informants providing the information, as well as the casualty recorders themselves, is essential.
Whilst it goes without saying that the protection of both the victims and the people recording and collating the information is essential, institutions still ought to be transparent about the numbers they publish. They should produce disaggregated information and share information on the methods that are used to collect and code the data. Transparency reinforces the position of casualty recorders when challenged about the figures. Many organisations do not disclose their data at all, or only do so to a select group of other internal governmental agencies. Very few organisations disclose information on the methodology they use to collect the data. Even when data is disclosed, it can be presented in summaries that do not help the analysis. Lack of transparency and limited disaggregation hamper the reliability of the information and reduce the chances for analysis and practical application of the data.
COUNTING THE COST: CASUALTY RECORDING PRACTICES AND REALITIES, p. 15
