14th March 2024
On the 14th of March 2024, EGRISS organised a panel discussion during the online conference on Internal Displacement and Solutions, which was hosted jointly by the Refugee Law Initiative’s Internal Displacement Research Programme and the Office of the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Solutions to Internal Displacement.
Given the growing attention given to durable solutions in the context of internal displacement, questions concerning the best way to measure progress have become more prominent in recent months. Due to the complex nature of the issue, its significant impact on affected populations, and the various ways to tackle the multi-faceted question “When does displacement end?”, the EGIRSS’ session aimed to bring further clarity to the topic. It aimed to highlight the different but related questions that arise as government, researchers and humanitarian and development partners work to respond to this issue in at global and national level.
As described by Natalia Baal, Head of EGRISS Secretariat, in the session’s opening these various questions include “How to prioritize limited resources to enable IDPs to secure solutions? How to measure the impact of national policies aimed at supporting durable solutions? How to develop those policies using data and evidence? How to measure progress towards solutions over time? When to stop counting IDPs in statistical terms? And probably a few other versions…”.
By examining the similarities and differences in greater detail, the session entitled “A Question with Many Answers: How to Measure Progress Towards Durable Solutions to Internal Displacement?”, aimed to de-mystify the topic, foster shared learning and enhance complementarities in ongoing work that aims to address this critical question.
The session featured presentations from several EGRISS members sharing insights from their different institutional perspectives. These included:
- Margharita Lundkvist-Houndoumadi from Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS), who shared extensive experience using combined quantitative and qualitative analytical approaches to create a common baseline that partners can use to help assess progress made toward durable solutions in a particular context.
- Catherine Osborn from UN Development Programme (UNDP) showcased ongoing work to develop a solutions monitoring framework that encompasses measures describing both the policy/institutional environment as well as the situation of displacement-affected communities.
- Nathalia Romero Figueroa from Colombia’s Unit for the Comprehensive Attention & Reparations of Victims (UARIV), who offered a national perspective from the Government of Colombia concerning approaches to assess the vulnerabilities of IDPs to target national assistance programs while simultaneously identifying those who no longer require humanitarian assistance.
- Felix Schmieding from the World Bank-UNHCR Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement (JDC), who presented on behalf of EGRISS as co-lead for Technical Subgroup 2 on Methodological Research & Guidance Development the ongoing work related to measuring when IDPs should no longer be included in national IDP statistics, including findings from a recent methodological paper on the same topic.
- Reflections from Mona Folkesson, from the Office of the Special Advisor on Solutions to Internal Displacement, concluded the panel. She highlighted the relevance of the debate in the context of the UN’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement and welcomed the synergies and complementarities presented by the different presentations delivered.
Read about the Conference and access the programme here.
The Conference is available in the format of a podcast – each session composing one episode. Check them here. Natalia Baal, Head of EGRISS Secretariat, moderated the session 3A. Listen to it below.
