Shining a Light on Internal Displacement: A Vision for the Future

Report of the United Nations Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement

The High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement was established by the UN Secretary-General to identify concrete recommendations on how to better prevent, respond and achieve solutions to the global internal displacement crisis. The Panel has heard the voices of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities, States, UN agencies, NGOs, Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, International Financial Institutions, regional organizations, the private sector, academic researchers and others.

The title of the report – ‘Shining a Light on Internal Displacement: A Vision for the Future’ – reflects the two main preoccupations that drove their work. First, internal displacement has largely dropped off the international agenda over the past decade. Despite commitments to ‘leave no one behind’ as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, internally displaced persons (IDPs) are often invisible and marginalized at national, regional and international levels. Second, business as usual is patently not acceptable. Concrete and measurable improvements in prevention, response and solutions to internal displacement must be achieved.

"Large-scale protracted displacement can stall and even reverse progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by increasing poverty, exacerbating inequality and exposing IDPs and host communities to heightened risks to their health and safety."

The report oulines 10 recommendations to change the mindset, working methods and institutional arrangements across both national and international actors. It calls for all stakeholders to redouble efforts to support solutions particularly for IDPs in protracted displacement contexts, which will ensure that it is possible to achieve a breakthrough for millions of IDPs, host communities and displacement-affected nations. Among other elements, far greater emphasis has to be placed on working with and through Government systems to ensure that IDPs and host communities benefit from the protection and support of the State that is rightfully theirs.