“Fundamental shift” needed in urban internal displacement response as global urbanization increases

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.

“You 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,” 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 “front lines” 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.