Roundtable informs on-going work of Panel on catalytic and long-term financing

In a virtual expert roundtable on 29 April 2021, representatives of States, international financial institutions (IFIs), UN agencies and NGOs shared their inputs on catalytic and long-term financing for solutions to inform the work of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement.

The roundtable was opened by Panel Co-Chair Donald Kaberuka who was joined in the event by his colleagues Sima Samar and Per Heggenes and the Panel’s Expert Advisors Chaloka Beyani, Alexandra Bilak, Beth Ferris and Walter Kaelin.

In the opening, Panel Co-chair Kaberuka highlighted the dilemmas of what he described as the vertical and horizontal approaches to funding. The former refers to the tendency to establish issue or population targeted financial mechanisms. The latter envisages an integrated approach in which the needs of IDPs are addressed as part of the national plan. He underscored the importance of leveraging the strengths of actors such as IFIs and the private sector in the search for durable solutions to internal displacement. However, he added that solutions would be difficult to achieve durably without political commitment and ownership of national governments.

In the first session on catalytic financing, participants shared their reflections on a number of financing channels to kickstart the solutions process. Inputs were shared on the existing country-based pooled fund and peacebuilding fund, as well as the possibility of creating new multi-partner trust funds. Many came into agreement that the current financing landscape is heavily reliant on humanitarian funding and there is a strong need to involve development actors, the private sector and other new donors. At the same time, there was no consensus on expanding the scope of humanitarian tools.

Discussions on long-term financing shaped the second session. Whereas catalytic funds would prioritize efficiency and be geared towards achieving a proof of concept, longer-term funds would seek to scale up action and drive more holistic recovery. Participants highlighted the importance of being context specific in the pursuit of such funding. Moreover, they exchanged their views on different opportunities to systematically address solutions such as through bilateral development assistance. While there was overall agreement that ideally solutions should be systematically integrated into broader development financing (as per the new World Bank approach paper), there was no consensus on specific instruments dedicated to the issue of solutions to internal displacement.

The outcomes of this meeting, as well as of additional roundtables in the coming months, will inform the on-going work of the Panel as it fine-tunes its conclusions and recommendations.