Bula vinaka! Greetings!
Significant progress has been made in focusing international attention on the need to address displacement in the context of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change. Despite a wide range of global policy frameworks, however, actions being taken are not yet having a sufficiently deep and far-reaching impact.
Understanding the role of national governments is crucial to designing more effective policy and programmatic interventions to address the causes of resource scarcity and displacement.
We are approaching key global milestones in the challenge we face to address the human mobility implications of the climate crisis – with deadlines that we are struggling to meet. We need to act urgently, collectively, inclusively and ambitiously.
Much like its Sahelian neighbours, Mauritania faces a daunting array of challenges triggered by the impacts of climate change. There is much that can be achieved if stakeholders commit to swift and comprehensive action in response.
Failure to anticipate drought and to coordinate an effective, recovery-focused response contributed to the protracted displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in Afghanistan. In the face of climate crisis impacts, ensuring preparedness and early action will be key.
Climate risks, conflict and increasingly unfavourable policy frameworks have disrupted mobility-based resilience strategies in the Central Sahel and limited the benefits of regional and global commitments on migration, climate displacement and disaster risk reduction.
How can partnerships and innovative approaches enhance policy coherence and effective policymaking in the IGAD region in the context of disasters and climate change?
How can we make better use of existing disaster response frameworks to respond to the mobility-related impact of disasters? Taking the Americas as a case-study offers a window onto this and related questions.
Persons with disabilities are disproportionately affected by climate change and disaster displacement but promising examples of more inclusive planning and responses are emerging.
Anticipatory approaches such as forecast-based financing can help to minimise the humanitarian impacts of disaster displacement.
Analysis of IGAD Member States’ DRR strategies, plans and frameworks indicates uneven reference to displacement risks and associated protection needs.
Integrating relevant human rights duties into an understanding of adaptation obligations can provide a much-needed way to address gaps in current protection frameworks for people who move in the context of climate change.
In Rwanda, refugees in camps and host populations often face high risks of climate-related hazards. Recent research assesses the potential of climate risk reduction strategies to reduce injury and loss of life, improve public health and well-being, and protect livelihoods.
Disaster risk reduction and humanitarian programming activities to assist displaced populations are more effective when informed by timely, accurate data. There is, however, a significant data gap in the context of urban displacement.
A recent global mapping exercise on planned relocation offers opportunities to build insights essential for guiding policy and practice.
Fiji’s Relocation Guidelines draw on the country’s experience in planning relocations, and offer guidance to other States facing similar challenges.
Governments need to be more transparent in terms of reporting on their relocation planning and implementation in order to ensure responsible decision making and effective monitoring.
The role that evacuations play in displacement needs to be better understood, given the very large numbers of people affected each year.
UNHCR discusses the range of options for international legal protection in the context of cross-border displacement triggered by the impacts of climate change. It also underscores the need for a broader approach to addressing human mobility.
Free movement agreements present opportunities for those who move in the context of disasters and climate change. More work is required, however, to make free movement accessible in practice to affected communities.
Adopting a human rights-based approach to examining law, policy and practice relating to displacement in the context of disasters and climate change highlights gaps between international and national standards, and realities on the ground.
The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines undertook a series of National Inquiries to investigate the effects of climate change on the enjoyment of human rights. The Commission identified a range of obstacles and opportunities but faces constraints in gaining State and non-State compliance with its recommendations.
When the effects of climate change and disasters seriously disturb public order in Africa or Latin America, those forced to flee across borders may be refugees. More work needs to be done, however, to help decision-makers apply regional refugee definitions in this context.
The High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement’s recent report considers the impact of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change on internal displacement, and calls for immediate action and better forward planning. Some commentators, while acknowledging the groundwork done by the Panel, question whether the report goes far enough.
A new index captures deficits in inclusion, justice and security experienced by displaced women.
Following concerns over the targeting method used to select recipients of cash assistance in Turkey, other possible methods of targeting were tested in order to compare their relative advantages.
Medical assessments provide evidence of the negative impact of the UK’s accommodation centres on the health of asylum seekers. A trauma-informed approach should underpin the government’s future strategy in this area.