Internal Displacement

GRID 2019: Global Report on Internal Displacement
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
May 2019 :: 159 pages
Key Messages
:: Persistently high levels of new displacement each year coupled with increasingly protracted crises
across the globe left 2018 with the highest number of IDPs ever recorded. Despite policy progress in several countries, the root causes of internal displacement are still not being adequately addressed.

:: Cyclical and protracted displacement continues to be driven by political instability, chronic poverty and inequality, environmental and climate change. Many IDPs are returning to insecure areas with few socio-economic opportunities. Instead of creating the conditions for lasting solutions, this is recreating conditions of risk and increasing the likelihood of crises erupting again in the future.

:: Ending displacement remains an elusive quest. Precious little information exists on how and when durable solutions are being achieved, and how people and states are progressing toward them. There is growing evidence that the obstacles to IDPs integrating locally are mostly political. This is also reflected in the almost complete lack of reporting on successful stories of local integration.

:: The primary responsibility for addressing internal displacement lies with national governments. Concrete action to protect IDPs and to reduce displacement risk must take place from the national to the local level. Given the ever-growing number of IDPs living in urban centres across the world, this local action will increasingly need to happen in towns and cities.

:: Effecting change will require the involvement and leadership of displaced people themselves and their urban host communities. More investment is needed at the city level to strengthen the capacity of communities and local authorities to analyse, plan and act jointly. Inclusive legislation, housing provision and service delivery need to become a part of the DNA of urban governance if urban IDPs are to break out of protracted and cyclical displacement.

:: With displacement increasingly becoming an urban phenomenon, integrated approaches across sectors and more investment in humanitarian, development and peace-building are required. To support local action effectively, the international community must address institutional barriers to coherence, and pursue joined-up funding and programming with a renewed sense of urgency and purpose.

:: The way ahead is clear. Filling the significant data, analysis and capacity gaps is imperative to progress. Only around a quarter of global internal displacement data is georeferenced and little to no information exists on the duration and severity of displacement across contexts and demographic groups. These gaps prevent the development of strategies to end or reduce the risk of displacement and mean that too many IDPs are still falling between the cracks of protection and assistance.

:: A systemic approach to filling the data gaps is possible. Common standards and better cooperation and coordination are within our reach and will go a long way in providing the evidence base required for policy work, development planning and humanitarian operations. Appropriate tools for needs assessments, risk analyses, investment planning and progress monitoring already exist and allow states to develop sustainable approaches to displacement. The priority now is to provide national and local authorities with the financial and technical support they will need to apply them.

Press Release
More people displaced inside their own countries than ever before
10 May 2019, Geneva – A record 41.3 million people are displaced inside their own countries because of conflict and violence, according to a new report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

The number of people living in internal displacement worldwide as of the end of 2018 is the highest it has ever been, according to the Global Report on Internal Displacement, launched today at the United Nations in Geneva. This is an increase of more than a million since the end of 2017 and two-thirds more than the global number of refugees.

The record figure is the result of years of cyclical and protracted displacement, and high levels of new displacement between January and December 2018. IDMC recorded 28 million new internal displacements associated with conflict, generalised violence and disasters in 2018…

“The findings of this report are a wake-up call to world leaders. Millions of people forced to flee their homes last year are being failed by ineffective national governance and insufficient international diplomacy. Because they haven’t crossed a border, they receive pitiful global attention,” said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. “All displaced people have a right to protection and the international community has a duty to ensure it.”…

“The fact that cities have become sanctuary to more and more internally displaced people represents a challenge for municipal authorities, but also an opportunity. Leveraging the positive role that local government can play in finding solutions to displacement will be key to addressing this challenge in the future,” said Alexandra Bilak.