Istanbul, June 25 (HNA) – Internal displacement remains an issue deserving urgent attention, and much more remains to be done to support the almost 76 million people currently internally displaced worldwide, the United Nations pointed out in a joint statement by the Principals of the UN Steering Group on Solutions to Internal Displacement: DCO, IOM, OCHA, UNDP, UNDPO, UNDPPA, UNICEF and UNHCR.
Two years have passed since the UN Secretary-General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement launch, and significant strides have been made towards its shared vision and objectives. As members of the UN Steering Group on Solutions to Internal Displacement, we stand united in our commitment to continue building on the momentum that has been achieved.
The governments of Nigeria, Iraq, Somalia, Colombia, Libya, and Ethiopia (Somali Region) have made a collective commitment to place 8.5 million internally displaced persons and recent returnees on solutions pathways. This is a significant step forward, and in the future, we will continue to support governments in designing and implementing solutions pathways that protect and uphold international human rights standards, as stated in the joint statement.
“Internal displacement is now more visible in international development and peace agendas, for example, featuring on the World Bank corporate results scorecard for the first time and at the World Bank Fragility Forum in 2024. In climate action, internal displacement was prominent at COP28, and the historic Loss and Damages Fund includes displacement in its scope of operationalization,” read the joint statement and went on as follows:
“While these are great strides, much remains left to do. Year after year, internal displacement figures continue to break records; when the Action Agenda was launched, there were 59 million internally displaced worldwide – today, there are close to 76 million. At the end of 2023, there were 9.1 million displaced people within Sudan, the highest number ever recorded in one country. Stepped-up action on prevention is critical to reverse this trend and to ensure that internal displacement is more firmly anchored in the final push to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
Signatories of the joint statement:
Amy Pope, Director General, International Organization for Migration
Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme
Jean-Pierre François Renaud Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, UN-Department of Peace Operations
Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Peacebuilding and Political Affairs, UN-Department of Peacebuilding and Political Affairs
Catherine Russell, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund
Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees