ODI Global: What Next for Internal Displacement? Four Priority Actions for 2025

This piece was originally published by ODI Global on January 16, 2025.

Internal displacement has long been a neglected issue on the international stage. But recent years have seen an uptick in policy momentum – spearheaded by the creation of a High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement in 2019 and the resultant Action Agenda on Internal Displacement in 2022.

In 2024, there were important and positive shifts in the internal displacement policy landscape, as well as cause for concern. Take, for example, the Independent review of the humanitarian response to internal displacement. This was a welcome opportunity for much-needed critical reflection, but it also identified serious shortcomings in the humanitarian and development response – it is ‘too slow’, ‘not joined up’, and ‘overlooks [displaced people’s] specific needs’. These shortcomings aren’t new. They are long-standing and systemic challenges, still unaddressed, even though the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) increases.

The year 2024 also marked the end of Robert Piper’s time as the Special Adviser on Solutions to Internal Displacement. Piper’s position was created in 2022 in a concerted drive by the United Nations (UN) to find solutions to the increasing number of IDPs throughout the world. His team has positively reinforced the need for development assistance, and increased financing and state leadership in responses to internal displacement. And yet, questions remain about the willingness and ability of state and development actors to assume additional responsibilities, and also about how to sustain political momentum now that Piper’s mandate has expired.

Against this backdrop, 2025 will be the year to sustain the momentum needed to make headway on the recommendations put forward by the Action Agenda, the Independent Review and Piper’s final report (due to be published in 2025). Two trends are on a collision course: increasing IDP numbers and dwindling humanitarian support and resources – the need for solutions is more urgent than ever. The most recent statistics saw a record high of 75.9 million IDPs, and ongoing crises in Ethiopia, Myanmar, Palestine, Sudan and Ukraine, among others, suggest that these numbers will continue to rise.

With this in mind, we highlight four priority actions for internal displacement in 2025.

1. Move the dial from rhetoric to action on meaningful participation

IDPs themselves must be at the centre of priority-setting, programming and decision-making. This​ principle​ is not new. It has been a key provision of the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement since 1998. And yet, IDPs’ priorities and voices continue to be overlooked and sidelined:

Too often, [IDPs] are not heard by policymakers and are unable to shape their own futures as decision makers in their own right.’

While participation has been part and parcel of many humanitarian overhauls over the past decade (notably the Grand Bargain’s Participation Revolution and the recent Flagship Initiative), progress remains frustratingly slow.

Going forwards into 2025, aid actors must do better to move the dial on meaningful participation. This entails taking practical steps to shift power and decision-making to IDPs. For example, the Independent Review rebuked the humanitarian system for prioritising tokenistic processes (complaints desks, feedback boxes, hotlines, focus groups and perception surveys) over more meaningful engagement, such as:

  • Piloting the establishment of IDP representative bodies.
  • Supporting IDP-led or IDP-focused organisations.
  • Incorporating IDP representatives into Durable Solutions Working Groups, or equivalent spaces.

2. Cultivate a spirit of cooperation between humanitarian and development actors

The past few years have seen a subtle but noticeable shift in responsibility for internal displacement from the humanitarian system to the development sector, due in large part to the advocacy work of Piper and the High-Level Panel. While this shift represents a welcome change, it also contributes to an undercurrent of political wrangling about whether protracted internal displacement is primarily a humanitarian or development concern.

Going forwards into 2025, a change in mindset – not ownership – is needed. Complex and protracted internal displacement crises do not shift seamlessly from immediate humanitarian relief to long-term development – they are often both, at the same time. With this in mind, humanitarians must do more to lay the groundwork for longer-term solutions that are rooted in national systems and localised action.

In turn, development agencies have a duty to be present in crisis settings much earlier, so that their interventions build on and complement what humanitarians are already doing in a timely and effective way. Ultimately, both humanitarian and development actors should work harder to cultivate a spirit of close cooperation that has so far been lacking.

3. Invest in longer-term support to livelihoods and resilience – but don’t lose sight of IDP protection

Global funding shortages in aid budgets are arguably driving aback to basics narrative that focuses on immediate needs and life-saving assistance. This is to the detriment of longer-term objectives of livelihoods and resilience. While livelihoods are not a panacea, they are a key part of any durable solution. By delaying livelihoods programming, aid actors are sacrificing important opportunities for building IDPs’ resilience now and in the future.

A renewed focus on livelihoods shouldn’t, however, mean losing sight of IDPs’ protection needs, or the rights enshrined in the Guiding Principles and Kampala ConventionRecent research by the Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) and Refugees International (RI) in Tigray, Ethiopia, highlights the need for a better balance. While livelihoods emerged as a key priority for IDPs entering their fifth year of displacement, many continue to simultaneously face acute challenges in accessing safety and security, as well basic rights to shelter, food, health services and education.

Going forwards into 2025, aid actors must recognise IDPs’ simultaneous and overlapping needs for both protection and livelihoods, especially in situations of protracted displacement. IDPs don’t conform to the traditional tropes of passive victimhood, but nor is their agency, resilience or self-reliance guaranteed – as illustrated by Ethiopian IDPs in Tigray struggling against a backdrop of violent conflict, ongoing drought, economic stagnation and limited assistance. Their ability to rebuild their lives and livelihoods is ultimately a story of getting by, rather than getting ahead.

4. Plan now for the impacts of a worsening climate

Extreme weather events and slow-onset disasters – which are increasing in frequency and intensity due to the climate crisis – will continue to be a driver of internal displacement and an ongoing disruptor of lives for people who have already been displaced. The World Bank estimates more than 200 million people will be internally displaced due to climate-related events by 2050 (although doubts remain around the causal assumptions that have led to such significant forecasts).

To date, however, the increasing vulnerabilities wrought by climate hazards are not being adequately addressed, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. On a global level, the High-Level Panel called for a concerted effort to mitigate climate displacement, while others have pointed to the Loss and Damage Fund as a potential opportunity for addressing the new humanitarian crises that will be spurred by climate change. These solutions lie largely with state actors who have the power to reduce carbon emissions and who must agree on the size, scope and scale of any new climate financing models. But that doesn’t mean that humanitarian and development actors have no role to play.

Going forwards into 2025, aid actors must do more to integrate the effects of climate change on IDPs into their advocacy and programming. For example, Refugees International proposes including displaced people in National Adaptation Plans, from consultation, planning and design through to implementation. Similarly, ODI Global advocates addressing the underlying drivers of climate vulnerabilities through strengthening systems and institutions, such as including IDPs in social protection systems.

Conclusion

The year 2025 marks a critical milestone for internal displacement. Rising displacement, funding shortfalls, capacity issues and limited policy appetite cast a long shadow on the prospect for solutions – durable or otherwise. But there is a glimmer of a hope: the recent uptick in policy momentum on internal displacement and the generation of practical and workable evidence-based recommendations signify an opportunity that humanitarian and development actors should grasp with both hands. HPG and Refugees International will continue to add to this growing body of evidence, but the facts of the matter are clear: there can be no excuse for inaction.