鈥淔undamental shift鈥� needed in urban internal displacement response as global urbanization increases
19 April 2021
The global virtual roundtable gathered more than 40 urban and forced displacement experts on 19 April 2021 to exchange lessons and good practices, drawing from the series of local consultations, to inform the work of the Panel.
Leaders and managers of municipalities and urbanization experts called for a 鈥渇undamental shift鈥� in internal urban displacement response in a virtual global roundtable that took place on 19 April 2021. The event, titled 鈥淚nternal Displacement in an Increasingly Urbanized World: Challenges and Opportunities,鈥� was the culmination of a series of consultations on urban displacement co-organized by UN-Habitat, the Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Secretariat of the 缅北禁地Secretary-General鈥檚 High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement.
Building on an earlier submission, the series was designed to help inform the Panel in its exploration of the unique challenges and opportunities presented by internal displacement in urban contexts. It involves six separate discussions, starting in February, with mayors, municipality administrators and other local authorities from Burkina Faso (Kaya, Kongoussi, Tougouri and Dori), Colombia (Medellin), Iraq (Mosul), Ukraine (Luhansk Oblast), Somalia (Mogadishu) and Honduras (San Pedro Sula). Five of the discussions took place prior to the global roundtable. Representing the Panel in these conversations were Panel members Paula Gaviria Betancur, Sima Samar, Pauline Riak and Per Heggenes, and Expert Advisory Group members Walter Kaelin and Alexandra Bilak.
Timeline of Urban Displacement Consultations
Note: The consultation with the Vice-Mayor of San Pedro Sula took place following the roundtable discussion on 19 April due to a scheduling conflict.
The roundtable brought together some 40 urban and forced displacement experts from municipalities, financial and technical partners and academia, who shared their reflections and experiences on the current urban displacement response, the growing challenges faced by cities and towns, and proposals for the ways forward. Opening the event, Panel Member Bentacur noted that while the majority of internally displaced persons (IDPs) today reside in towns and cities, the attention devoted to the issue was often ad hoc. She called for the reality and extent of displacement in the urban contexts to be duly acknowledged and its nature and dynamics to be properly understood.
鈥淵ou have amazing people working on these issues at the local and municipal levels. Yet when national humanitarian response or solutions plans are developed, they do not always take into account the unique challenges and opportunities of urban displacement environments,鈥� she said.
The first session of the roundtable was devoted to the rethinking that was called for in the current approach to internal displacement in the urban context. Among other points, participants highlighted the need for changes in development and humanitarian assistance and programming in urban contexts, as well as strengthened coordination across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
The centrality of local governments in responding to urban displacement was also underlined given that municipality officials are typically the primary responders who serve on the 鈥渇ront lines鈥� of each crisis.
The second session looked into the approaches and technical expertise from non-crisis contexts in support of sustainable and equitable urban development. Participants highlighted the importance of developing and disseminating flexible, fit-for-purpose urban planning tools tailored to different situations including cases of acute shocks.
The complete findings and conclusions from the six local consultations and the global roundtable will be drawn on by the Panel as it carries forward and concludes its work on this question.
Tweets from urban displacement consultations
Este d铆a tuvimos la oportunidad de conversar en equipo sobre la agenda social municipal de y las acciones de respuesta al desplazamiento interno que se han impulsado como esfuerzo local,ante el panel de alto nivel sobre desplazamiento interno de
— Lily Uma帽a Montiel (@LilyUmana)
An estimated 96,000 reside in Mosul, the 2nd most populous city in .
— 缅北禁地SG's High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement (@IDPs_Panel)
Today, Panel members and Pauline Riak, and expert , met with the Mayor of Mosul to learn about the city's response in addressing the needs of urban IDPs.
I hope that the Somali plan will a good example for the other countries including my country Afghanistan. To improve the situation of IDPs
— Dr.Sima Samar (@DrSimasamar)
Creation of and implementation of the Peace Agreement are milestones and opportunities for in Medellin to also achieving justice and truth. We hope experiences are useful for the
— Iv谩n Palomino (@ivanpaloc)
Luhansk Oblast has the 2nd largest population in .
— 缅北禁地SG's High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement (@IDPs_Panel)
Panel members Pauline Riak, & experts met with regional authorities & an IDP representative to learn about the oblast's displacement response incl. the work of Luhansk IDP Council.
More than 50% of reside in or move to urban areas .
— 缅北禁地SG's High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement (@IDPs_Panel)
With the support from , and , a consultation was held today for with mayors from Burkina Faso to understand the specific challenges of the urban IDPs context.