Internal displacement in Africa: A development challenge

7/31/2019 Internal displacement in Africa: A development challenge

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Internal displacement in Arica:A development challengeExploring development initiatives to alleviate internal displacementcaused by confict, violence and natural disasters


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Acknowledgements

This brochure was authored and produced by IDMC under an initiative by the Global Program on Forced Displacemento the World Bank. The content o the brochure is based on Walter Klin and Nina Schrepers study, Internal Displace-

ment in Africa: A Challenge for Development Actors - Analytical Paper on the Relevance of Human Rights Approachesfor Bank Activities Targeting Conict- and Disaster-Induced Displacement in Africa, Switzerland, 2012. Both the studyand the brochure were nanced by the Nordic Trust Fund (NTF). The NTF is a knowledge and learning initiative to helpthe World Bank develop a more inormed view on human rights. Financial and sta support or the NTF is provided byDenmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Disclaimer

The content o this brochure does not necessarily represent the views o the World Bank and its aliated organizations,or those o the Executive Directors o the World Bank or the governments they represents.

Cover photo: A recently returned mother and child walk towards their new hut in Dzaipi sub-county, Adjumani District,Uganda. The IDP camps clustered around the trading centres in Adjumani emptied as amilies return to their villages,September . Will Boase or USAID/OTI/NUTI www.willboase.com


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Internally displaced people (IDPs) are persons or groupso persons who have been orced or obliged to fee orto leave their homes or places o habitual residence, inparticular as a result o or in order to avoid the eects oarmed confict, situations o generalized violence, viola-tions o human rights or natural or human-made disasters,

and who have not crossed an internationally recognizedstate border (998, Guiding Principles on Internal Dis-placement). As o the end o , more than 6 millionpeople were internally displaced by confict and violenceacross the world. More than a third o them were in Arica,the region with the highest number o IDPs and wherethey outnumber reugees by ve to one. Sudan, Demo-cratic Republic o the Congo (DRC) and Somalia have thecontinents largest populations o internally displaced peo-ple. Large numbers o people in Arica have also been in-ternally displaced by natural disasters, especially drought.

Internal displacement situations are oten fuid, with new

displacements and movements o people in search o adurable solution sometimes happening at the same time.Preventing new displacement is as much o a challenge asresolving existing situations. In a number o Arican coun-tries, IDPs live in protracted displacement; their process onding a durable solution has stalled, oten leaving theirrights unprotected and their communities marginalised.The ormer Representative o the UN Secretary-Generalon the human rights o IDPs, Walter Klin, has observedthat IDPs in many Arican countries are oten worse owhen humanitarian organisations withdraw ollowing anemergency, leaving them without any real prospects o

rebuilding their lives in a sustainable manner.

Introduction

A ather who had been internally displaced or over adecade in northern Uganda told Klin in 9: I dontneed ood aid. I need help in clearing my land, a shovel andseeds. And some rain. In essence, he said that internaldisplacement was not only a humanitarian, human rightsor peace-building challenge, but also a development one.

Internally displaced persons versus reugees

Most people orced to leave their homes because oconfict and violence, human-made or natural disas-ter settle in saer areas within their own country anddo not cross into another country. They are knownas internally displaced people (IDPs). Reugees arethose who had to fee rom individual persecution or, instates which have ratied the 969 OAU Convention,violence or events seriously disturbing public order,and who crossed an international boundary to seek

saety in a country other than their own.

This brochure is a result o a knowledge and learning initiative on human rights and orced displacement, carried out bythe IDMC, the the Institute o Public Law o the University o Bern and managed by the World Bank/Global Program onForced Displacement. The purpose o this brochure is to provide guidance on how to integrate human rights approaches

into development responses to orced displacement. The lessons o this booklet are derived rom an analytical study oninternal displacement in Arica, produced by the 'the Institute o Public Law o the University o Bern. The brochure hasbeen presented and discussed at a workshop organized by the Arican Union Commission.


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While orced displacement is a humanitarian crisis, it also hassignifcant developmental impacts aecting human and social capital,

economic growth, poverty reduction eorts, and environmentalsustainability. Forced displacement has an important bearing onmeeting the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals], since displacedpopulations tend to be the poorest and oten experience particularlydifcult access to basic services.

Harild and Christensen, The Development Challenge of Finding Durable Solutions for Refugees and InternallyDisplaced Persons, background note, World Development Report 2011.

bour may improve ood production, and the upgrading ohealth and education services has a lasting local impact,even ater IDPs have returned to their homes.

Internal displacement caused by armed confict, othersituations o violence or natural disasters has traditionallybeen seen primarily as a humanitarian and human rightsissue, and sometimes as a security challenge. Humani-tarian organisations are regarded as key to addressingit. Development-ocused organisations tend to becomeinvolved only when a situation is stable enough to allowor sustainable initiatives.

Displacement and development, however, are not unre-lated. On the one hand, lack o development can triggerinstability and confict which leads to displacement, as

do the lack o early warning, preparedness, disaster riskmanagement and adaptation in countries prone to naturaldisasters. Lack o development can also hinder the returno people to devastated areas and aect other settlementoptions. Displacement might also undermine or even re-verse the development o a region and it always increasesthe risk o impoverishment and perceived marginalisation.

On the other hand, well-designed development interven-tions can help to prevent displacement by stabilising ragileareas and reducing the risks associated with disasters.Displacement can even oer development opportunities.

Displaced people can make positive contributions to theirhost communities, boost the local economy and createopportunities that may benet both themselves and theirhosts, so encouraging peaceul relations. An infux o la-

Why development actorsshould pay attention tointernal displacement

Displacement as a process o impoverishment

Displacement impoverishes individuals, amilies andcommunities. IDPs oten lose land, property, liveli-hoods and access to health services and educationin the process, while hosts may exhaust their re-

sources in coping with the new arrivals, especially inArica where most IDPs stay with relatives or in hostcommunities.

Impoverishment can be understood as a loss o naturalcapital, human-made physical capital, human capitaland social capital. There are nine risks or processesthat cause the impoverishment o people aectedby displacement: landlessness, joblessness, home-lessness, marginalisation, ood insecurity, increasedmorbidity and mortality, loss o access to commonproperty and services, social disarticulation and the

loss o education opportunities. (Impoverishment Riskand Reconstruction (IRR) model developed by MichaelCernea.)


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A human rights-based approach to development is above all aresponsibility-based approach. It asks who is, and who should be,

responsible or what with respect to whom?Paul Lundberg, Decentralized Governance and a Human Rights-based Approach to Development, p. 5.In Arica, governments have realised that recognisingIDPs human rights and accepting the primary respon-sibility to respect, protect and ulll those rights are es-sential elements in addressing internal displacement andits devastating eects.

Human rights provide key principles, complementing andsupporting development aims such as the Millennium De-velopment Goals (MDGs) and good governance. Withoutacknowledging that everyone has the rights to health andeducation, and the corollary obligations o the state, re-spective MDGs can hardly be reached. It is dicult tosee how good governance can be achieved i people areunable to express their opinions on matters aecting theirlives, or i corrupt authorities are not held accountable. Inthis sense, development actors increasingly recognisehuman rights principles and standards as a actor to betaken into account. Some have adopted human rights-based approaches while others have integrated them into

their activities implicitly.

Why human rights matter

Protecting IDPs in Arica: our key instruments

The Arican Charter on Human and PeoplesRights (98) is ratied by all 53 Arican Union(AU) member states and provides a ull-fedged

human rights ramework applicable to situationso internal displacement. It also contains uniqueeatures, such as the right to development, that areimportant to IDPs protection.

The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement(998) set out IDPs rights during all phases o dis-placement, that is to say beore and during displace-ment and in their search or durable solutions. TheGuiding Principles are not legally binding, but pro-vide guidance to governments by pulling togetherand restating states obligations under internationalhuman rights and humanitarian law.

The Protocol on the Protection and Assistance o

Internally Displaced Persons is one o ten proto-cols contained in the Great Lakes Pact on Security,Stability and Development (6). It commits thepacts member states to incorporating the Guid-ing Principles into their domestic legal order, and isthe rst sub-regional instrument to make the Guid-ing Principles legally binding in its signatory states.

The Arican Union Convention or the Protectionand Assistance o Internally Displaced Personsin Arica (Kampala Convention, 9) is the rstregional instrument in the world to impose detailedlegal obligations on states and their authorities to

respect, protect and ull IDPs economic, social,cultural, civil and political rights.


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What does the right to development mean?

The right to development stipulates that developmentprocesses must lead to the empowerment o a peo-ple, that they must improve its choices, capabilities,opportunities and well-being. Where communitiescontribute to a development process by giving up theirland, they have not only a right to just compensationbut also to receive an equitable share o the benets.States undertaking or enabling a development projectare obliged to inorm communities ully o its natureand consequences, to consult them adequately andeectively and to allow them to participate meaning-ully in all parts o the process, including the planningphase, that are relevant to their lives. Most notably,states must obtain communities ree and inormedconsent in accordance with their customs and tradi-tions i a development or investment project will havea major impact upon them.

Signifcance o the Kampala Convention asa human rights instrument

The primary responsibility to assist and protect IDPslies with governments, but this is not always recognisedand the necessary legal and institutional rameworksare sometimes non-existent or ineective. Humanrights instruments in general and the Kampala Con-vention in particular address these weaknesses by:

Entitling IDPs as rights holders to demand speciedprotection, assistance and rehabilitation measuresrom authorities in their country.

Obliging authorities as duty-bearers to respect,protect and ull IDPs human rights and to takespecic measures to do so.

Allocating clear responsibilities to authorities inoperational areas relevant to human rights.

Creating a ramework o accountability or caseswhere authorities neglect their responsibilities andviolate their obligations.

The right to development:a peoples right in Arica

The right to development is a collective right o peoples to their economic, social and cultural development withdue regard to their reedom and identity and in the equalenjoyment o the common heritage o mankind (Article22 o the Arican Charter on Human and Peoples Rights).This right, which exists only in Arica as a legally bind-ing guarantee, is particularly relevant or those internallydisplaced communities that constitute a people on thebasis o a common history, culture and religion.

The role o development actors indomesticating and implementing theKampala Convention

As well as hosting the largest internally displaced popula-

tion in the world, Arica has also done most to develop asound normative ramework to protect IDPs rights.

Unless countries domesticate and implement these keyinstruments, however, they will not make a dierence toIDPs lives. A number o Arican states, including Angola,Burundi, Central Arican Republic, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria,Sierra Leone, Sudan and Uganda, have already developednational laws and policies based on the Guiding Princi-ples and the Great Lakes Pacts IDP Protocol, or are inthe course o doing so. When the Kampala Conventioncomes into orce, there will be added pressure or more

Arican states to establish national instruments on internaldisplacement, as this is one o the obligations under theKampala Convention.

National and international development actors can playan important role in supporting states in ullling theirobligations under the Kampala Convention.

National development actors are critical in supporting theirgovernments along with other relevant stakeholders inestablishing national instruments on internal displacementand ensuring they include a development angle. The im-plementation o such instruments requires concerted and

robust eorts by a broad range o primarily national and localauthorities. The support o national and international devel-opment actors is indispensable to ensure that challengesspecic to displacement, such as the reconstruction o basicservices in areas o return, are addressed. Such initiatives goa long way to meeting the MDGs in the countries concerned.

International development organisations can also use theirgood oces and set incentives by oering donor sup-port to states and ministries in charge o domesticatingthe convention, and helping to build national and localcapacities to that end.


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3 Human rights consistency, in particularnon-discriminationIs it ensured that specifc programs and projects donot violate the rights o those aected by them?

Are programs and projects ramed in a way to avoiddiscrimination on grounds such as race, gender, lan-guage, religion, political or other opinion, ethnic, na-tional or social origin, property, birth or other status?

Are monitoring measures in place to detect and ad-dress unintended discriminatory or otherwise harmuleects, particularly on vulnerable and marginalizedgroups?

4 Do no harmAre specifc programs and projects ramed in waysthat are consistent with relevant rights o IDPs andothers aected by displacement?

Are programs and projects ramed in a way to avoidother negative and harmul impacts on people a-ected by them?

Are programs and projects addressing social and cul-tural rights such as the right to ood, housing, healthand education ensuring that relevant goods and serv-ices are available in sucient quantity, accessiblewithout discrimination in geographical, administrativeand nancial terms?

Are programs and projects addressing other humanrights taking into account the specic entitlements

enshrined in them?

5 Accountability

Is accountability at all relevant levels ensured?

Are relevant judicial, quasi-judicial or administrativecomplaint and redress mechanisms in place at allstages? Are traditional or other alternative disputesettlement mechanisms available?

Do IDPs and other aected people possess sucientknowledge about such mechanisms and the capacityto use them?

Is access to such mechanisms guaranteed or arethere obstacles such as high costs, administrativehurdles, language requirements, or discrimination andcorruption?

Are available complaints/redress mechanisms e-cient and eective?

Added value? Five human rightsprinciples relevant to developmentprocesses

These ve human rights principles can guide the design,planning and implementation o development projects.Answers to the questions under each principle will in-orm development initiatives rom a human rights-basedperspective.

1 Responsibility:Right holders and duty bearersWho are the right holders and what are their rights ina specifc situation?

Do IDP communities have rights as a collective underthe Arican Charter o Human and Peoples Rights?What collective rights?

Do IDPs and members o other aected communities

have specic rights they can claim? Do displaced women, children, persons with disabili-

ties, or members o minorities have specic rightsthey can claim?

Do members o host communities and other aectedpeople have specic rights they can claim?

Who are the duty bearers and what are theirobligations in a specifc situation?

Who is responsible to address specic claims o IDPsat the local level?

Who is responsible to address specic claims o IDPsat the central level? Is it clear who is responsible or what or are there

gaps in the allocation o responsibilities?

2 Access to inormation and participationIs inormation, consultation and participation o IDPsand others aected by a specifc program or projectensured?

Do IDPs and other aected people de acto and dejure have the possibility to exercise their right to inor-

mation, reedom o expression and o association andthe right to participate in public aairs aecting them?

Are measures in place to ensure that IDPs and otheraected people are not just heard but eectively andmeaningully involved in planning and implementingprograms and projects that aect them?

Is the eective and meaningul involvement o wom-en, youth and marginalized groups ensured?

Do certain IDPs lack the possibility/capacity to ex-press themselves reely and meaningully and howare problems o social and cultural barriers or powerdynamics addressed?


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Development actors play a crucial role in securing durablesolutions or IDPs, but initiatives are equally importantin preventing displacement and addressing IDPs rightsduring their displacement, particularly when it becomes

protracted.

Preventing displacement

Strengthening community resilience: Some communitiesare better equipped than others to cope with pressures tofee during armed confict or in the context o environmen-tal changes. Less resilient, and especially marginalisedones are more likely to fee i their situation becomesmore dicult. Development initiatives can contribute tostrengthening communities resilience, or example by im-

proving ood security, livelihood opportunities, availabilityo drinking water, access to basic health and educationservices and local governance structures.

Reducing risks associated with natural disasters: Devel-opment actors have a recognised role to play in reducingrisks related to natural disasters. Measures suggested inthe 5 Hyogo Framework or Action include the food

and hurricane-proong o housing, roads and other inra-structure; the upgrading o drainage systems; the plantingo riparian orest buers; the construction o dams, seawalls and dykes; mangrove planting; beach stabilisation;the construction o buildings on elevated plots and otherland planning measures, soil conservation and the im-provement o livestock management.

During displacement

Strengthening coping and absorption capacities o host

communities: The vast majority o IDPs in Arica do not livein camps or settlements, but stay with amilies or on theirown in host communities, which also become aected by

Why development actors are needed:Entry points or development initiatives

An NRC sta member interviews an internally displaced woman on durable solutions and access to land at Karehe IDP site, Burundi (IDMC, November ).


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displacement. Support or such communities should notonly ocus on humanitarian aid, but also on developmentinitiatives to strengthen basic inrastructure and services,and increase ood security and the availability o shelterand housing measures that would benet host com-munities at the same time as helping IDPs.

Addressing protracted displacement: More than two-thirds o the worlds IDPs live in situations o prolongedand protracted displacement. All too oten, this can breeddependence among those receiving humanitarian assis-tance. The restoration or improvement o livelihood op-portunities and attending to the lack o adequate housing,water, sanitation, health and education services in areaswhere IDPs live are development challenges. Addressingthem helps IDPs to become sel-sucient again and, atthe same time, increases the general level o developmentand reduces poverty in targeted areas.

Achieving and sustaining durable solutions

Durable solutions that bring displacement to an end canbe achieved through IDPs sustainable return to theirplaces o origin, integration in their places o reuge orsettlement and integration in another part o the country.Durable solutions can, however, only be said to occur whenspecic conditions are met. The 2010 Inter-Agency Stand-ing Committee (IASC) Framework on Durable Solutionsstipulates that an adequate standard o living, includingaccess to adequate ood, water, housing, health care,

basic education, employment and livelihood opportuni-ties; and eective mechanisms to restore housing, landand property or provide compensation, are all necessaryelements. The establishment o such conditions requirestimely development initiatives that build on the achieve-ments o humanitarian action and make them sustainable.

Michael Cernea in his Impoverishment Risk and Recon-struction model (see box) describes major impoverishmentrisks o displacement that have their equivalent in humanrights guarantees as enshrined in international and Aricaninstruments. The processes leading rom ood insecurityand increased morbidity, or example, are directly linked to

the human rights to adequate ood and health. By applyingthese guarantees, the reversing processes become statesobligations as duty bearers towards IDPs as rights holders.

Using the Impoverishment Risk and Reconstructionmodel as an entry point or development actors

Internal displacement increases the risk o impover-ishment. It calls or processes to reverse these impov-erishment risks by addressing the needs o displacedpeople and communities:

From landlessness to restitution o, or access toland ater displacement, and i possible temporaryuse o land during it

From joblessness to re-employment ater displace-ment, and i possible temporary employment during it

From homelessness to permanent housing aterdisplacement and temporary shelter during it

From marginalisation to social inclusion both duringand ater displacement

From ood insecurity to adequate ood and nutritionboth during and ater displacement

From increased morbidity to improved health careboth during and ater displacement

From the loss o common property to the restora-tion o community assets and services

From social disarticulation to the rebuilding onetworks and communities both during and aterdisplacement

From the loss o education opportunities to therestoration o access to them

(Impoverishment Risk and Reconstruction (IRR) model,developed by Michael Cernea.)


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Development actors can contribute meaningully to ad-dressing and resolving internal displacement and to revers-ing IDPs impoverishment risks.

Four key considerations or developmentaction

1. Development planning must include enough fexibility toallow or timely initiatives by development actors whendisplacement situations change.

2. IDPs must be inormed and consulted during develop-ment planning, and their specic needs must be ac-tored into area-based approaches.

. Specic programmes targeting IDPs should be linkedto general development plans as a way o making them

eective and sustainable. General development plans,meanwhile, should also be adapted in a way that allowsIDPs to benet rom them according to their needs. Forexample, connecting IDPs and host communities to lo-cal, national, regional and international market opportu-nities will lead to sustainable livelihoods and economies.

. The (re)construction o inrastructure is necessary orlocal authorities to unction, or the provision o basicservices and or the (re-)establishment o livelihoods.It is also essential to ensure that trained sta and re-sources are available to run and maintain such inra-structure and services.

Four key areas o intervention

Development actors can support the implementation othe Kampala Convention by intervening in the our keyareas o governance, basic services, livelihoods and oodsecurity, and housing, land and property rights.

1 Strengthening national and localgovernance

Strong governance by capable, responsive and accountablenational and local authorities is a necessary precondition toprogress on improving access to basic services, livelihoodsand the protection o housing, land and property rights.

Development action:

In countries with decentralised structures, local authoritiesare the rst responders when displacements or returnsoccur. Local responses, however, are typically hamperedby the unclear allocation o powers and responsibilities,ineective or insucient nancial decentralisation, lack

o capacities and conficts o loyalty among elected lo-cal authorities and ocials. Development initiatives tostrengthen local governance might aim to: Improve local capacities to address internal displace-

ment and support durable solutions in a transparent andaccountable manner.

Support local authorities in the design, planning andimplementation o community-based projects to (re-)integrate IDPs.

Design fexible systems at the national level or devolv-ing nancial resources to respond to the needs createdby the infux and presence o IDPs, be they in places oreuge and subsequent integration, return or settlement.

Establish or strengthen measures to address localauthorities accountability towards IDPs, or examplethrough the setting up o local complaints mechanisms.

2 Improving access to basic services

IDPs oten lose their access to basic services, aectingtheir rights to water, sanitation, health care and education.Humanitarian assistance tends to target IDPs in campsand settlements while those living outside camps struggle

to access similar services. Humanitarian organisationsoten leave the country or receive less unding ater theinitial emergency phase, resulting in a deterioration obasic services, especially when displacement becomes

What development actors can do

In Article 3 (b and c), the Kampala Convention reiter-ates the primary responsibility o national authoritiesto assist and protect IDPs, and reers to the impor-

tance o a localised response by stating states obli-gation to develop policies and strategies on internaldisplacement at both national and local levels.


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protracted. IDPs seeking a durable solution may returnto areas where basic services have collapsed or weredestroyed and have not been re-established. They mayace administrative obstacles or outright discriminationwhen trying to access basic services. The persistent lacko access to basic services, sometimes during all phaseso their displacement, seriously compromises IDPs rightsto water and sanitation, health and education and hinderscommunities in their eorts to achieve a durable solution.

States are responsible or deciding which ministries orinstitutions will carry out these tasks. Concerted eorts byhumanitarian and development actors are oten essentialin supporting them.

Development action:

Development actors are routinely involved in improvingbasic services. Initiatives should take IDPs specic needsand vulnerabilities into account and contribute to restor-ing their access to these services both during and aterdisplacement by: Expanding and upgrading existing services to cope with

increased demand in IDPs places o reuge, particularlywhere an infux o IDPs compounds other urban pres-sures. Initiatives should be sustainable and continueeven once IDPs leave, to ensure development gains ortheir host communities.

Ensuring that basic services put in place by humanitar-

ian organisations are taken over by ministries, localauthorities or communities when the emergency phaseends and that they are accessible to host communities.

Re-establishing basic services in areas o return; andwhen necessary setting them up or expanding themin areas o local integration or relocation/settlement.

Ensuring in all cases that legal, administrative and deacto obstacles aced by IDPs when accessing basicservices are removed.

3 Re-establishment o livelihoods and oodsecurityLivelihoods and ood security are intimately connected,especially in rural areas. In act, the re-establishment o live-lihoods is key to improving IDPs ood security and ulllingtheir right to ood. Development initiatives help them to avoidtemporary or chronic malnourishment, and as such so gosome way to addressing the undamental right o every hu-man being to be protected against hunger. Lack o accessto livelihoods causes both impoverishment and dependenceon humanitarian assistance. In its absence, IDPs resort tonegative coping strategies or become vulnerable to seriouseconomic exploitation. Sel-employed armers, shopkeep-ers and other business owners tend to lose their livelihoods

when they fee because they leave behind the very basiso their economic activities, including productive assets,economic and physical resources, customers and proes-sional and social networks. Others lose jobs in industriesand services, access to work on land owned by others andthe use o assets under common property arrangements.

Finding new employment and other sources o livelihoodsis dicult or IDPs. Displacement oten occurs duringeconomic downturns caused by armed confict, politicalcrises or natural disasters. People may also be displacedto areas where no jobs are available, or where they ace

discrimination or lack the skills and knowledge needed toestablish new livelihoods. Some o these actors, such asdiscrimination and a shortage o economic opportunities,may persist in the context o durable solutions.

Article 9 () o the Kampala Convention stipulatesthat states must provide IDPs, and where appropriatehost communities, with adequate humanitarian assist-ance, including health services, sanitation and educa-tion to the ullest extent possible and with minimumdelay. Special measures must be taken to protectwomens reproductive and sexual health and providepsychosocial support or victims o sexual and other

abuse. Providing these services is part o a statesobligation to seek durable solutions to displacementas stipulated in Article ().

Example: Lie-saving development eorts in north-ern Somalia

The continuous fow o IDPs into Puntland and So-maliland places a burden on local authorities andcommunities. Klin, the ormer Representative o theUN Secretary-General, has highlighted the need ordevelopment initiatives such as investments in basicinrastructure, services and livelihoods as importantlie-saving measures (RSG Somalia report 9, par-agraph 33): Such development interventions reducedependency on humanitarian aid and strengthen thecapacity o displaced and host communities to copewith the distress and the burdens imposed upon themas a consequence o displacement, at times whenhumanitarian aid cannot reach them. Working withtheir UN partners, ministries have established jointprogrammes in Hargeisa, Bossasso and Galkayowhich aim to improve IDPs living standards by better

protecting their human rights, in particular by improv-ing their physical security, upgrading temporary set-tlements and improving access to basic services andlivelihood opportunities. The programmes also seekto identiy and achieve durable solutions, so combin-ing the need or continued humanitarian eorts withrecovery and development initiatives.


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public land to give landless IDPs the opportunity to arm.This can be particularly useul in areas where populationdensity is high and the size o private plots very small.

Introducing more productive and sustainable armingmethods, agricultural credits and measures to improveIDPs access to markets.

Replacing the livestock o (agro-)pastoralists who losttheir animals during the process o displacement. Theprovision o veterinary services is also important or asuccessul intervention.

4 Providing access to housing, land,property and temporary shelterThe homes, land and property that IDPs leave behindwhen they fee are oten their most valuable assets andessential to their livelihoods and identities. Such property

oten remains unprotected, compromising IDPs right notto be arbitrarily deprived o their property. The loss othem contributes to IDPs impoverishment and creates theneed or adequate shelter during and ater displacement

Development action:

There is no consensus as to which policies are most e-cient in creating jobs and livelihoods, but pragmatic ap-proaches taking into account specic contexts work best.Initiatives might include: Temporary work programmes with payment in cash

or ood. Schemes might involve IDPs in the setting upcamps or settlements in areas o displacement, or in thereconstruction o damaged homes and basic servicesin return areas. Such initiatives are an important steptowards re-establishing IDPs sel-suciency.

Vocational training programmes or shorter skills train-ing programmes to improve IDPs chances o enteringthe labour market both during and ater displacement.Such programmes are particularly eective i combinedwith the creation o equivalent livelihood opportunities.

Improving access to and provision o productive assets,such as markets, land, livestock, tools, other equipment

and micro-credits without discrimination. This is essen-tial both during and ater displacement to re-establishsustainable livelihoods in the long-term and to limit pro-tracted displacement and dependence on humanitarianassistance.

Creating sustainable livelihood opportunities and sel-reliance in the context o durable solutions. Such ini-tiatives should be area-based, multi-dimensional andcover IDPs, returnees and local communities to have alasting impact. As such, they also contribute to socialreconciliation.

Mainstreaming IDPs specic needs into general poverty

alleviation and livelihood programmes.

Given that early recovery measures taken by humanitar-ian organisations are oten not enough to restore ood

security, development action is essential to lessen IDPsdependence on assistance and to avoid creating an ob-stacle to durable solutions. Initiatives might include: Providing IDPs with unused public or other land, and

the tools and seeds necessary to grow ood during theirdisplacement; and those in urban areas with training,micro-credits and other measures to help them enterthe local labour market. Private land can also be usedto IDPs benet, provided the owner receives adequatecompensation through rent or is included in income-generating schemes or inrastructure projects that oerthem some economic reward.

Helping returning IDPs clear land let allow during theirdisplacement and building or repairing irrigation systemsand other inrastructure.

Establishing land cooperatives or using common or

Article 3 () (k) o the Kampala Convention stipulatesthat as well as ensuring IDPs protection and assist-ance, states must also promote their sel-reliance andsustainable livelihoods. Restored livelihoods are a keycondition to the achievement o durable solutions, anobligation contained in Article .

Example: Livelihoods and ood insecurity in north-ern Uganda

A longitudinal study in northern Uganda publishedby the Overseas Development Institute showed thatreturning IDPs ood insecurity can actually increasein the absence o adequate development initiatives.The study examined the situation o amilies in Paderdistrict over three years and it s ndings included theollowing problems aced by IDPs returning to theirvillages: (i) Agricultural inputs and labour were a majorconstraint on ood production despite the availabilityo land; (ii) Income-generating opportunities weremainly limited to low paying activities; (iii) Incomedropped to very low levels during times when return-ing IDPs had to clear their land and construct their

homes; and (iv) the latter hindered the eorts o thoseaected to rapidly rebuild their ormer livelihoods orinvest in livestock and so prolonging their depend-ence on ood assistance.

Returned IDP boys in an unrenovated school in Gulu district, Uganda.(IDMC, January )


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until their assets have been recovered. Land issues areimportant drivers o violence and confict when access isunequal, tenure insecure or competition intense, includingsituations in which climate variability or change has led toscarcer resources. Restoring housing, land and propertyand improving secure access to land and housing as as-pects o IDPs rights in this area are key to IDPs being ableto achieve durable solutions in the atermath o confict,and may be essential in rebuilding peace. The destructiono homes and property by natural disasters and confictsoten leads to displacement and is a major obstacle toIDPs restarting their lives. The loss o land registries andtitle deeds, the absence o ormal deeds, the destructiono landmarks used or demarcation and discriminatorylaws and traditions are common challenges IDPs ace inrecovering their land and property and a potential sourceo inter-communal tensions, violence and confict.

Given the various modes and customs o housing, land and

property rights, the Kampala Convention regulates themin detail and also contains provisions relevant to providingIDPs with access to adequate shelter.

Development action:

Development initiatives on housing, land and propertyare essential throughout the displacement process, andparticularly to the achievement o durable solutions. Im-proving tenure security is essential in Arica, where theoverwhelming majority o rural land is unregistered andmanaged customarily a act which increases the likeli-hood o dispossession beore, during and ater displace-ment. Access to land and property is also closely related

to livelihoods. Initiatives might include: Protecting the land and property IDPs leave behind. De-velopment initiatives that help both people who have fedand those at risk o displacement to secure title deeds

Article 4 (5) o the Kampala Convention seeks toprotect communities with special attachment to ordependence on land because o their culture and spir-itual values rom displacement. Article 9 () stipulatesthat states must provide IDPs with adequate shelter tothe ullest extent possible and with minimum delay. Italso calls or measures to protect individual, commu-

nity and cultural property let behind in IDPs placeso origin and in their places o reuge. The obligationo states to promote and create the conditions ordurable solutions is contained in Article (), andincludes the restoration o IDPs homes, lands andproperty. States are also required by Article (4) toestablish mechanisms and simplied procedures tosettle property-related disputes. Article (5) statesthat communities with special attachment to or de-pendence on land whose displacement could not beprevented can ask their governments to take all ap-propriate measures to restore their ormer lands upontheir return whenever possible.

are critical. They might include recording hitherto un-registered, inormal or traditional ownership, land titling,and securing or re-establishing land registries and simi-lar public records.

Helping IDPs to recover their property. Initiatives to helpreplace lost or destroyed documentation proving owner-ship rights are critical as are those to help re-establishland registries and administration systems that may havebeen destroyed or collapsed during confict or disaster.

Resolving land and property disputes. Development initia-tives are essential in strengthening and building the ca-pacity o existing courts and tribunals. These bodies areoten overwhelmed by the sheer volume o IDPs claims,and lengthy proceedings become an impediment to theirachieving durable solutions. Development actors can helpto address this issue by working with national and localauthorities to improve mechanisms or settling disputes,simpliy procedures and create alternative mechanisms.

Ensuring IDPs receive compensation where it is im-

possible to restitute their property. Similar initiatives tothose aimed at resolving disputes are essential, that isto say working with authorities to strengthen the capaci-ties o courts, tribunals and compensation commissions,simpliy procedures and set up alternative mechanismsto adjudicate claims and pay compensation.

Improving IDPs tenure security and access to land andhousing. Development actors can support this goal witha wide range o initiatives, such as land managementand governance programmes, the development o poli-cies that recognise customary land rights, transorm-ing those rights into title deeds and supporting urban

planning solutions which include pro-poor housing andrental schemes open and adapted to IDPs.

Shelter and housing is not only a humanitarian issue.Development actors play a critical role in providing tran-sitional shelter when displacement becomes protractedand in the process o nding durable solutions. They helpIDPs avoid having to (i) live in sub-standard housing with-out access to basic services, (ii) engage in dangerous orexploitive activities to cover rents or (iii) occupy publicor private property and risk eviction. Transitional sheltermay also be necessary or returning IDPs who lack thecapacities to rebuild their houses. Initiatives should aim to:

Upgrade areas where IDPs settle or return with thenecessary housing and other inrastructure as part ourban planning or rural development projects, and pro-vide options to secure residents tenure.

Make sure that housing policies address IDPs specicneeds.


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Links to resources

Note: This brochure ocuses on displacementcaused by armed confict, other situations o vio-lence and natural disasters. Development-induceddisplacement has its own normative rameworks.

Guidance is notably included in the World BanksOperational Policy on Involuntary Resettlement(Operational Manual, OP 4., revised in Feb. );the Arican Development Banks Involuntary Re-settlement Policy (Nov. 3); the InternationalFinance Corporations Perormance Standard 5,Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement(Jan. ) and the Basic Principles and Guidelineson Development-Based Evictions and Displace-ment (7).

Useul links

Arican Union: http://www.au.intArican Commission on Human and PeoplesRights: http://www.achpr.orgArican Development Bank:http://www.adb.orgInternal Displacement Monitoring Centre:http://www.internal-displacement.org

International Conerence on the Great LakesRegion: http://www.icglr.org

PreventionWeb: http://www.preventionweb.netRelieWeb: http://www.relieweb.int

UNDP: http://www.undp.orgUN High Commissionner or Reugees:http://www.unhcr.orgUN Oce or the Coordination o HumanitarianAairs (OCHA): http://ochaonline.un.org

World Bank: http://www.worldbank.org

Example: Using existing development schemes toachieve durable housing solutions

In Burundi, IDPs have been living in settlements orover a decade. The settlements were set up on bothpublic or private land, and in some cases they havebeen the source o land disputes with the owners,most o them domicile residents. A study carried outin to assess IDPs living conditions and theirpreerred options or durable solutions showed that8 per cent wished to integrate locally, a preerenceprotected by the right o all citizens to choose theirplace o residence but raising the issue o the statuso the land on which they have settled. Burundian au-thorities are now in the process o drating an actionplan or durable solutions with the support o the UNReugee Agency (UNHCR). The plan will cover theresolution o property disputes through restitution orcompensation, and address the issue o tenure se-

curity or IDPs who wish to integrate locally. For it tobe successul, it is essential to examine existing landlegislation and development programmes which couldcontribute to the achievement o durable solutions.

Burundi is seeking international nancial support or avillagisation project which aims to improve economicdevelopment and living conditions through the devel-opment o villages where all acilities and servicesare available. Beneciaries would become owners othe houses built as part o the programme. Its currentcriteria, however mean that IDPs are not eligible to

participate. Extending the programme to include IDPsettlements and neighbouring communities would goa long way to achieving durable solutions and socialreconciliation. This example shows the need or coor-dination between humanitarian and development ac-tors in helping authorities to implement initiatives thatsupport IDPs eorts to achieve durable solutions atthe same time as beneting the population as a whole.
http://www.au.int/http://www.au.int/http://www.achpr.org/http://www.achpr.org/http://www.afdb.org/http://www.afdb.org/http://www.icglr.org/http://www.preventionweb.net/http://www.preventionweb.net/http://www.reliefweb.int/http://www.reliefweb.int/http://www.undp.org/http://www.undp.org/http://www.unhcr.org/http://www.unhcr.org/http://ochaonline.un.org/http://www.worldbank.org/http://www.worldbank.org/http://ochaonline.un.org/http://www.unhcr.org/http://www.undp.org/http://www.reliefweb.int/http://www.preventionweb.net/http://www.icglr.org/http://www.afdb.org/http://www.achpr.org/http://www.au.int/


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Source: UN Cartographic Section, modied by IDMC. October

Socotra

Providence Is.

Agalega Is.

Farquhar Is.

Mayotte Is.(under French

admin )

Aldabra Is.

Amirante Is.

Zanzibar

Pemba

Carajos

Runion

TromelinSt. Helena

Ascension

Madeira Is.

Canary Is.

Principe

Cargados

Annobn

Sao Tome

Asmara

LibrevilleKampala

Nairobi

Moroni

Brazzaville

Kinshasa

Yaound

Khartoum

Addis Ababa

N'Djamena

Bangui

Kigali

Bujumbura

Lilongwe

Djibouti

Banjul

Conakry

Yamoussoukro Accra

Freetown

Monrovia

Abidjan

Abuja

Nouakchott

Dakar

Bissau

Bamako

Ouagadougou

Malabo

Niamey

Luanda

PortoNovo

Tripoli

Tunis

Algiers

Rabat

Laayoun

Cairo

Lusaka

Harare

Pretoria

MaseruBloemfontein

MbabaneMaputo

Cape Town

Windhoek Gaborone

Antananarivo

Dodoma Victoria

Mogadishu

Praia

Lom

e

Port Louis

SaoTome

Juba

A T L A N T I C

O C E A N

LakeTurkana

LakeAlbert

LakeTanganyika

LakeNyasa

LakeKariba

LakeChad

LakeVictoria I N D I A N O C E A N

M e dite

rr

an

ea n S e a

Re

d

Se

a

GulfofA

den

SUDAN

SOUTHSUDAN

NIGERIA

NAMIBIA

LIBYA

CHAD

SOUTHAFRICA

UNITED REPUBLIC OF

TANZANIA

MOROCCO

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE

ZAMBIA

CENTRALAFRICAN REPUBLIC

TUNISIA

UGANDA

CTE-D'IVOIRE

LIBERIA

SIERRALEONE

BURKINA FASOGAMBIA

CAMEROON

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

WesternSahara

MAURITIUS

CAPE VERDE

ERITREA

CONGO

NIGER

DEMOCRATICREPUBLIC

OF THECONGO

GABON

MALI

Cabinda(ANGOLA)

MAURITANIA

BOTSWANA

SWAZILAND

LESOTHO

MALAWI

BURUNDI

RWANDA

ZIMBABWE

DJIBOUTI

KENYA

COMOROS

SEYCHELLES

MOZAM

BIQ

UE

MAD

AGASCAR

ANGOLA

ALGERIA

SENEGAL

GUINEA-BISSAU GUINEA

EGYPT

ETHIOPIA

(EQUATORIAL GUINEA)

(PORTUGAL)

(SPAIN)

(UK)

(UK)

(YEMEN)

(MAURITIUS)

(FRANCE)

(FRANCE)

GHANA

BE

NIN

TOGO

SOM

AL

IA

0

0

500 1000 km

500 1000 mi

AFRICA

The boundaries and names shown and the designations usedon this map do not imply ocial endorsement or acceptance

by IDMC.


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Internal displacement in Africa: A development challenge

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