Protracted Displacement and the Search for Solutions

Some two-thirds of the world’s refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) live in protracted displacement and solutions seem increasingly elusive. Since early 2023, ISIM researchers Elizabeth Ferris, Katharine Donato, and Timo Tonassi have been working closely with the Global Data Institute of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in an initiative called PROGRESS to use data to assess progress toward solutions for the world’s 60+ million IDPs. In the first round of research, researchers worked with datasets on IDPs in 15 countries, primarily through the Displacement Tracking Matrix and REACH datasets to identify factors which correlate with the self-reliance of IDPs. Supplementing this data analysis with 74 focus group discussions with IDPs themselves, the first phase of the research offered some interesting findings. First, by most indicators, IDPs are more vulnerable than members of their host communities and displaced women face greater threats to their security. The study also found that stable housing is correlated with higher incomes for IDPs and found some support for the hypothesis that the longer people are displaced, the less likely they are to return to their home communities. The focus group discussions highlighted the importance of security and safety for IDPs in considering various solutions to their displacement as well as issues around economic security.

Based on the interesting findings from the first year of data analysis (results available here), ISIM and IOM researchers are working to expand the study – by surveying more countries and expanding the questions used in the survey instruments of the Displacement Tracking Matrix. The initiative is also piloting the collection of IDPs’ displacement histories to gain insights into the dynamics of displacement. PROGRESS24 will be launched in November 2024 and is expected to further strengthen international efforts to support solutions for IDPs who have been displaced for far too long.

This initiative is being carried out in close consultation with a number of UN and other international initiatives working on the difficult issue of solutions for IDPs, including The UN’s Office of the Special Advisor on Solutions for IDPs, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of IDPs, EGRISS (the Expert Group on Refugee, IDP and Statelessness Statistics), as well as IDMC, JIPS, WFP, PDD, UNDP, UNICEF, OCHA, REACH, UNHCR, FAO, UNFPA, and UNDPA.

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