Disaster relief and displacement: the quest for policy coherence
We know that national and regional immigration frameworks are important for facilitating the admission and stay for disaster-affected persons in regions such as the Americas.[1] But that is to look at the issue from one policy perspective only: immigration law.…
Promising practices of disability inclusion in addressing disaster displacement
As our understanding of displacement in a changing climate continues to grow, so too does our awareness that its effects are not evenly felt. An estimated one billion people – 15% of the globe’s population – are living with a…
The role of forecast-based financing
Can forecast-based financing reduce the humanitarian impacts of disaster displacement? This was the focus of a study recently conducted by the Red Cross/ Red Crescent Climate Centre (RCCC), together with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies…
Disaster displacement and risk reduction strategies in IGAD
Displacement as a result of disasters has been a recurring and growing problem in the IGAD region.[1] In 2020, the region witnessed approximately 2.3 million persons newly forcibly displaced by disasters: an average of 100,000 disaster-displaced persons per month. When…
Adaptation obligations and adaptive mobility
The link between climate change and increased human mobility is widely recognised, as are the gaps in legal protection for people who move in the context of climate change. Current protection frameworks tend to rely on a specific category of…
Climate resilience in Rwanda: evaluating refugees’ and host populations’ vulnerability to risk
Floods and landslides are two of the deadliest hazards in Rwanda, causing injury, damage to public goods, and destruction of productive land, all of which have long-term economic impacts.[1] All too often the communities at the highest risk of climate-related…
Quantifying displacement in urban disaster contexts
Even the most stringent data collection exercises, such as national censuses, are subject to error. In humanitarian data collection exercises certain locations, types of location or population categories tend to be prioritised for assessment, reflecting government and stakeholder data needs…
Mapping of planned relocation cases: a foundation for evidence-based policy and practice
Planned relocation – the permanent movement of whole communities to destination sites out of harm’s way – is recognised as a measure to reduce exposure to floods, sea level rise and other hazards, including those intensified by climate change. Over…
Putting principles into practice: lessons from Fiji on planned relocations
In November 2020, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama officially opened the newly relocated village of Narikoso on the island of Ono, Fiji. The project saw seven households moved to storm-resilient housing on higher ground to avoid recurrent inundation from rising sea…