The report presents data compiled by UNHCR on forced displacement in 2019 due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order. This year’s report includes analysis of displacement trends over the past decade. Key...
JDC Literature Review
Results for: Urban and Local Government
A Call to Action: Mobilising Local Resources in Ethiopia for Urban IDPs
In 2018, about 1,300 registered IDP households and many unregistered IDPs fled ethnic conflict in the Somali region of Ethiopia to seek safety in Adama, the capital of the Oromia region. The city government led a successful multi-level response that included action by...
Places of Refuge and Risk: Lessons from San Pedro Sula
The metropolitan area of San Pedro Sula hosts approximately 40 percent of Honduras’ IDPs, with the city itself hosting around 22 percent of IDPs. 81 percent of IDPs have been displaced from elsewhere in the city. IDPs tend to seek refuge in the most marginalized or...
Contested Public Authority in Marginal Urban Areas: Challenges for Humanitarians
In Lebanon and Jordan, the international community is increasingly shifting support from national governments to municipalities, in recognition of the critical role they play in responding to forced displacement, and as part of a broader localization agenda. Large...
Pakistan’s Urban Refugees: Steps towards Self-reliance
Sixty-eight percent of Afghan refugees in Pakistan live outside of camps, mostly in and around major urban centers. Almost all urban refugees in Pakistan are engaged in livelihood activities (transport business, gemstone trading, carpet production), making a...
Improving Information and Communication to Boost Inclusion and Self-reliance for Urban Refugees
A major obstacle to urban refugees’ self-reliance is that information and refugees do not easily ‘find’ each other. Refugees can become isolated and ‘lost’ in the urban environment, partly because they relocate frequently, making contact difficult to maintain, and...
Invisibility and Virality in Urban Shelter Response
The authors argue that humanitarian shelter responses should prioritize flexibility in order to accommodate diverse needs and capacities, particularly in the urban environment. The success of shelter assistance programs depends on: (1) flexibility (rather than...
Cities as Partners: The Case of Kampala
The authors (from the IRC and Kampala Capital City Authority) argue that more needs to be done to support city governments to address displacement. This means going beyond offering cities a seat at the table in policy discussions to investing in cities as equal...
The Path of Least Resistance? EU Cities and Locally Organized Resettlement
This article highlights efforts being made by some EU cities to locally organize resettlement for refugees. For example, in Italy, a project led by the church organization Community of Sant’ Egidio organizes the resettlement of 750 refugees each year through its...
Women Refugees, Leisure Space and the City Sarah Linn
The author highlights key findings of her research on Syrian refugees’ gendered experiences of mobility, security and public space in neighborhoods in the cities of Amman and Beirut. A number of intersecting structural and identity issues have combined to create...