GENEVA, FEBRUARY 27 – Internal displacement is “one of the most dramatic global challenges of our time,” Italian former Minister for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini said in her address to the new new High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement convened this week in Geneva by United Nations’ Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Mogherini, who was until recently the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs co-chairs the Panel with Dr. Donald Kaberuka, former President of the African Development Bank and current Chair of the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.
In only the first two months so far of 2020, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced within their countries adding to the 41 million internally displaced persons globally. Many have been stranded for years in limbo after their initial displacement without secure housing, jobs, education or other needs and opportunities. The Panel, constituted by the Secretary-General in October 2019, includes representatives from government, international organizations, civil society, the private sector and countries particularly affected by displacement.
Decrying the acute and relentless crisis of internal displacement, Guterres urged the Panel to help draw global attention to the issue and catalyze a new and stepped-up effort to find solutions: “It is unacceptable that millions of people are so brutally dislocated from their home and then linger without solutions for years. Being displaced should not be an interminable problem. I am confident that this Panel will bring fresh ideas to prevent forced displacement, better protect and assist displaced people and identify swifter solutions to displacement.”
Mogherini highlighted the terrible consequences of internal displacement across the board and reiterated the imperative to find lasting solutions: “Recent displacement and the immense suffering it is creating in places like Syria, the Horn of Africa, DRC and Yemen are a stark reminder of the urgent need to better deal with internal displacement. The Secretary-General’s support is crucial as we embark on the challenging task to recommend innovative ways to enhance the way the problem is seen and dealt with today.”
Recognizing that efforts have been made over time to address the humanitarian aspects of internal displacement, Dr. Donald Kaberuka stressed that more comprehensive efforts are required: “We need to examine the underlying social and economic causes of displacement including poverty, inequality, marginalization and exclusion, environmental fragilities, governance challenges and the impact of displacement on societies and countries to be able to propose the correct solutions.”
The Panel will be advised by an Expert Advisory Group including some of the most eminent experts on internal displacement. It will be supported by a Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is expected to meet four times over the next 12 months, hold regional and national consultations to learn from countries and organizations dealing with displacement and will submit its recommendations to the Secretary-General by February 2021. (@OnuItalia)
