50by35 Microdata Pipeline

Harmonize and publish microdata used to monitor the UNHCR 50by35 Vision

Author

World Bank Group

Published

July 20, 2026

Status

This is a living document under active development. See the contributor guide before making changes.

This book documents the pipeline to harmonize and publish microdata used to monitor the UNHCR 50by35 vision: that 50 percent of refugees in protracted crises are self-reliant by 2035.

0.1 The Pipeline at a Glance

Code
%%{init: {"flowchart": {"nodeSpacing": 60, "rankSpacing": 80}, "themeVariables": {"fontSize": "30px"}}}%%
flowchart LR
    raw["<b>1 · Upload<br/>raw<br/>data</b>"]
    rawrev{"<b>2 · Review</b>"}
    dlwraw[("<b>datalibweb</b><br/>FDPRAW")]
    harm["<b>3 · Harmonize data</b><br/>50by35 schema"]
    hup["<b>4 · Upload<br/>harmonized<br/>data</b>"]
    hrev{"<b>5 · Review</b>"}
    dlw[("<b>datalibweb</b><br/>FDP")]

    raw --> rawrev
    rawrev -->|approve| dlwraw
    rawrev -->|reject| raw
    dlwraw --> harm
    harm --> hup
    hup --> hrev
    hrev -->|approve| dlw
    hrev -->|reject| harm

    classDef step fill:#e8f0fe,stroke:#4285f4,color:#174ea6;
    classDef gate fill:#fef7e0,stroke:#f9ab00,color:#7f6003;
    classDef store fill:#e6f4ea,stroke:#34a853,color:#0d652d;
    class raw,harm,hup step;
    class rawrev,hrev gate;
    class dlwraw,dlw store;
%%{init: {"flowchart": {"nodeSpacing": 60, "rankSpacing": 80}, "themeVariables": {"fontSize": "30px"}}}%%
flowchart LR
    raw["<b>1 · Upload<br/>raw<br/>data</b>"]
    rawrev{"<b>2 · Review</b>"}
    dlwraw[("<b>datalibweb</b><br/>FDPRAW")]
    harm["<b>3 · Harmonize data</b><br/>50by35 schema"]
    hup["<b>4 · Upload<br/>harmonized<br/>data</b>"]
    hrev{"<b>5 · Review</b>"}
    dlw[("<b>datalibweb</b><br/>FDP")]

    raw --> rawrev
    rawrev -->|approve| dlwraw
    rawrev -->|reject| raw
    dlwraw --> harm
    harm --> hup
    hup --> hrev
    hrev -->|approve| dlw
    hrev -->|reject| harm

    classDef step fill:#e8f0fe,stroke:#4285f4,color:#174ea6;
    classDef gate fill:#fef7e0,stroke:#f9ab00,color:#7f6003;
    classDef store fill:#e6f4ea,stroke:#34a853,color:#0d652d;
    class raw,harm,hup step;
    class rawrev,hrev gate;
    class dlwraw,dlw store;
Figure 1: The 50by35 microdata pipeline

The pipeline is documented here in three parts:

  1. Upload Raw Data — raw microdata and documentation are uploaded to PRIMUS. Approved files are published to datalibweb for harmonization.
  2. Harmonize Data — raw microdata is harmonized to the 50by35 schema.
  3. Upload Harmonized Data — harmonized microdata and harmonization scripts are uploaded to PRIMUS. Approved files are published to datalibweb for 50by35 monitoring.
Key systems
  • PRIMUS (Primary Review of Indicators and Microdata Upload System) is the World Bank’s “clearing” platform for data. It allows for the review and approval of data and derived indicators by relevant parties. PRIMUS is the only way to deposit files into secure cloud storage from which datalibweb reads.
  • datalibweb is a World Bank data system designed to give users access to raw and harmonized household surveys from many microdata collections for analysis.

0.2 Accessing data

Raw and harmonized data that have been approved in PRIMUS are available from datalibweb. In datalibweb, the raw data collection is named FDPRAW and the harmonized data collection is FDP with harmonized module WELF.

See the Access Data chapter for details.

0.3 Harmonized Schema

Every harmonized file must conform to the 50by35 schema. Two variables in the microdata are used to calculate the 50by35 self-reliance indicator:

Variable Status Description
welfare_self Mandatory Self-reliance-adjusted welfare measure
weight Mandatory Sampling weight

See the Schema & Variable Dictionary for the full variable list, value ranges, and labeling conventions.

0.4 Calculating the 50by35 Self-Reliance Indicator from Harmonized Microdata

The share of the population defined as self-reliant can be calculated as follows:

\[ SR = \frac{\displaystyle\sum_{i=1}^{n} \mathbb{1}\left[\dfrac{\text{welfare\_self}_i}{365 \times CPI \times PPP} \geq z\right] \cdot \text{weight}_i}{\displaystyle\sum_{i=1}^{n} \text{weight}_i} \]

where \(z\) is the reference poverty line (in daily PPP terms), \(\mathbb{1}[\cdot]\) is an indicator function equal to 1 if the condition holds and 0 otherwise, welfare_self is divided by 365 to convert the annual adjusted welfare aggregate to a daily rate, and the sums run over all \(n\) individuals \(i\) in the sample. CPI and PPP are the consumer price index and purchasing power parity adjustment factors, respectively, since welfare_self is expressed in current local currency units.