Event

19 June 2018

 - 

UN Secretariat, New York

Reducing displacement risk and resolving complex displacement crises

The side-event will be convened during the ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment, in keeping with this year’s theme: Restoring humanity, respecting human dignity and leaving no one behind: working together to reduce people’s humanitarian need, risk and vulnerability. This event is organized in the context of the 20th anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

Background

In 2017, the world again experienced high rates of internal displacement, driven by conflicts, political instability, sudden and slow-onset disasters, environmental factors and unsustainable refugee returns.

Reducing the risk of displacement and progressing towards durable solutions requires governments and the humanitarian and development sectors to strengthen collaborative and complementary approaches, and make more effective investments to resolve internal displacement situations and build resilience to future shocks and stressors.

The changes outlined in the Secretary-General’s Agenda for Humanity to alleviate suffering, reduce risk and lessen vulnerability call for a ‘New Way of Working’ (NWOW), to operationalize the humanitarian-development nexus. In Ethiopia, the NWOW is being put into practice, under the leadership of the Ethiopian Government, with support from the international community.

The side event will provide a much-needed forum for:

  • reflecting on ways to strengthen the evidence base on internal displacement, to better inform risk planning and efforts to achieve durable solutions
  • highlighting the importance of state-led responses and exchanging concrete examples of good practices in resolving protracted displacement
  • exploring how UN agencies, donors and other actors can best support national efforts to address protracted displacement, as well as the ongoing challenges to operationalizing the humanitarian-development nexus

Panel discussion

Chair and opening remarks:

OCHA: Mr. Strohmeyer, Policy Director

Moderator and closing remarks:

IOM: Mr. Mohammed Abdiker, Director, Department of Operations and Emergencies

Panel:

  • Ambassador Negash Kebret Botora, Permanent Representative of the Mission of Ethiopia to the United Nations, Geneva
  • Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa-Onochie, UN Resident Coordinator, UNDP Resident Representative and UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia
  • Alexandra Bilak, Director, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
  • Joanne Adamson, Deputy Permanent Representative, Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre will speak on the major gaps in accounting for internal displacement, including how governments and humanitarian/development agencies can work together to strengthen data collection, risk assessment and progress monitoring, and the challenges in understanding the complex drivers of displacement and its development impacts.

For more information, please contact: Avigail Shai, Political Adviser, IDMC, avigail.shai@idmc.ch