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IOM Operations on Internal Displacement, March 2017

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Document Overview

This document provides practical examples of ongoing or recent activities of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) related to internal displacement. In line with the internationally recognized Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (1998), IOM’s operational objectives are to: a) Bolster preparedness, resilience-building and address the root causes of displacement; b) Provide protection and assistance through timely and effective humanitarian responses; and c) Support and pursue durable solutions and sustainable recovery. Over the years, undertaking activities to fulfil these objectives has represented the largest share of IOM’s work on the mobility dimensions of crisis. In 2015 alone, IOM operations reached 23 million people, the majority being internally displaced persons (IDPs) or in communities affected by—or at risk of—internal displacement, in 67 countries.

The examples provided in this document include activities in 50 contexts with operations ongoing up until September 2016 (or recently completed) related to internal displacement. The purpose is to illustrate the scope of IOM’s global coverage as well as the diversity of activities in varied contexts—from emergency responses to slow onset disaster and climate adaptation contexts. Given the extent of IOM engagement on this issue, the assembled cases do not cover the full gamut of IOM experience relevant to internal displacement: operations may have ceased prior to the limited scope of this exercise, countries may have benefited from regional programming, or activities such as Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), resilience-building and addressing root causes are pre-emptive of internal displacement occurring or may also be incorporated in broader programming not exclusive to internal displacement.

The operating environments for addressing and responding to internal displacement issues are fast-paced and ever-changing. Therefore, the cases provided are understood to be quickly dated. For this reason, the document is intended primarily for illustrative purposes. Beneficiary numbers were mostly not included as the numbers are easily dated, and may be specific to a current aspect of the programme and not the ongoing nature of IOM engagement under that sector. Further, IOM engagement in internal displacement is long-standing and has considerably expanded in the past decade in response to need, making the cases too large to cover exhaustively. This document thus only draws from examples where activities were either ongoing or recently completed from 2015 through to the last quarter of 2016. However, in cases such as the protracted crises in Colombia, Syria, South Sudan and Afghanistan, or in cases where displacement is a frequent occurrence due to repeated disasters, recent activities may be contextualized through some previous or broader activity examples.

IOM undertakes activities towards meeting its operational objectives throughout a given crisis, in response to multiple cumulative complex crises, and pre-emptively in fragile or at-risk contexts. Therefore, the most practical way to showcase the diversity and range of IOM activities is according to the relevant sectors of assistance of its Migration Crisis Operational Framework (MCOF). To maintain consistency, the sectors of assistance under each case are ordered in line with the order listed in the MCOF Council document (MC/2355). The order does not reflect the size of the operation under that sector. The one exception is that MCOF groups camp management and displacement tracking together, however, as IOM increasingly rolls out its displacement tracking matrix (DTM) outside of camp settings and on broader internal displacement issues, and thus they are listed independently. IOM works closely with governments and partners, and within the framework of the cluster system. All of the activities were made possible only through the financial and partnership support of donor governments, the governments where IOM operations take place, as well as the multitude of partners at the international, regional and local levels.

The examples of this annex provide a short summary of the main internal displacement context and presents a very brief summary of key activities in the following contexts (50):

AFRICA
Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe.

ASIA
Afghanistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Iraq, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Yemen, Viet Nam.

AMERICAS
Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Chile, Colombia, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Paraguay, Peru.

EUROPE
Ukraine, UNSC resolution 1244-administered Kosovo (hereinafter referred to as Kosovo/UNSC 1244)

OCEANIA
Fiji, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu.