Remaking a home in displacement

This event provides an opportunity to reflect on the factors that influence perceptions of home in displacement, to share lesson learned, and to consider how these can be applied to policy and practice.

Caitlin Sturridge

Facilitator

November 7, 2024 | 15:00 - 16:30

Multipurpose room 04

Overseas Development Institute

United Kingdom

English

Reference:

NE 04-08

WUF12

Networking Events

Summary

This event explores what home - and the loss thereof - means for those who have been internally displaced. It brings together a range of panellists working at the cross-section of internal displacement and urbanisation, with a focus on Cameroon, Colombia, the DRC, Ethiopia, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela.

Shining a light on lived experiences, panellists will discuss the role of social networks and cohesion, identity and trust, acceptance and belonging, and collective and multi-stakeholder alliances.

A better understanding of the preferences and perceptions of internally displaced persons (IDPs), and those of the host community in which they reside, is critical for supporting immediate needs and longer-term goals. A deeper understanding of what it means to remake a home in displacement is also critical for aid actors and city authorities in the investments they make.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of IDPs, Paula Gaviria Betancur, will be on hand to discuss the issue of internal displacement in urban areas from a global perspective. Drawing on her vast experience of engaging with IDPs in different urban contexts, she is well-versed in the challenges and lessons that IDPs face in accessing human rights and protection in cities. Following the event, she will be reporting to the UN General Assembly in 2025 on the topic of (re)integration in urban areas, drawing on the material presented during this session, among other sources.

Objectives

The issue of internal displacement in urban areas remains a major blindspot for humanitarian and development actors working on displacement. Most policy, practice and research has focused on refugee communities in rural communities and camps, rather than IDPs in cities, who increasingly make up the majority of the forcibly displaced.

Against this backdrop, this event has two main objectives. The first is to shine a light on the experiences of IDPs in urban settings. The second is to make a case for greater investment in supporting their lives, livelihoods and well-being.