UNHCR’s ProGres database in Costa Rica contains 47,491 registered individuals of which 30,494 are active. Of the 30,494 active individuals registered in the database, 22,487 have a known location as well as a listed primary phone number. Phone penetration rates are high among the PoC population in Costa Rica with 9 out of 10 families having a phone number registered in the ProGres database. This list constitutes just over 22% of the total estimated PoC population living in Costa Rica. As such, this final list serves as the first-choice sampling frame for the phone survey. In addition, two regions of Costa Rica were identified for targeted sampling of PoC following discussion with the UNHCR country team and regional bureau and based on information captured in the ProGres database. These include the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM, for its acronym in Spanish) inclusive of the capital San Jose and the Northern region. Moreover, it was identified that understanding differences across sub-groups based on country of origin was essential for operational needs. In the GAM the biggest groups are Nicaraguans (67%), Venezuelans (13%) and Cubans (11%). Alternatively, in the North Nicaraguans represent 90% of the PoC population. Based on the above, a sampling strategy was proposed based on four separate strata in order to adequately represent the regions and sub-groups of interest: 1.)GAM – Nicaragua stratum: Nicaraguan PoC in GAM; 2.) GAM – Venezuela stratum: Venezuelan PoC in GAM; 3.) GAM – Cuba stratum: Cuban PoC in GAM; and 4.) North – Nicaragua stratum: Nicaraguan PoC in the North.
