Reducing Protracted Internal Displacement: A snapshot of Successful Humanitarian-Development Initiatives

The Secretary-General’s Agenda for Humanity and the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit focused the world’s attention on the need to adopt a new approach to protracted crises, including addressing internal displacement and fostering durable solutions. In the context of the twentieth anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (GP20), the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spearheaded a multi-stakeholder, three-year action plan to prevent and address internal displacement. The plan was designed to garner more international attention on the issue of internal displacement and to boost progress on internal displacement in specific countries, including through the dissemination and use of effective practices. The GP20 Plan of Action (2018–2020) proposes more joined up and strategic action across four areas: participation of internally displaced persons (IDPs); laws and policies on internal displacement; data on IDPs; and addressing protracted internal displacement and fostering durable solutions.

This paper aims to contribute to the reflection on effective practices to address protracted displacement, in support of the GP20 Plan of Action roll-out. It expands on the research conducted by Walter Kälin and Hannah Entwisle Chapuisat for the 2017 OCHA-commissioned study Breaking the Impasse: Reducing Protracted Internal Displacement as a Collective Outcome. That study provided a comprehensive picture of the impact of protracted internal displacement, as well as five country case studies in contexts of conflict and disasters. It also offered a road map for addressing such displacement through seven steps, including conducting joint analysis and defining collective outcomes.