Publication: Forced Displacement of and Potential Solutions for IDPs and Refugees in the Sahel : Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger
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2013-10
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2014-04-07
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The Sahel region has seen the forcible displacement of more than million persons as a result of conflict. Tackling displacement in the Sahel is critical for both poverty alleviation and stabilization, and only a development response will be adequate to the task. A development response to forced displacement in the Sahel requires a regional approach. Such an approach would have the benefits of being able to overcome challenges relating to cross-border movements, obtain commitments by host governments to support the prospects of displaced from neighboring countries, and facilitate common approaches, shared conceptualization and learning. The purpose of this scoping study on forced displacement is to contribute towards the formulation of a regional policy framework for sustainable solutions to displacement and towards the substantiation of a development response. The main challenges for the displaced populations include: i) livelihoods; ii) relations with host communities; iii) cohesion; iv) depletion of services; and v) governance. Measures to be taken to address the needs of these communities are: 1) improving the monitoring of population movement and knowledge on the locations, profiles and needs of the displaced, their host and return communities; 2) ensuring that the displaced and those affected by them can benefit from ongoing wider development investments in the region by designing 'displacement-sensitive' interventions; 3) strengthening services in affected areas through targeted regional investment programs; 4) employment creation and livelihood generation for those displaced; 5) delivering resources for the displaced in such a way that important outcomes are achieved; and 6) exploring the creative use of new technologies to extent information and development benefits to the displaced.
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“World Bank. 2013. Forced Displacement of and Potential Solutions for IDPs and Refugees in the Sahel : Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. © http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17617 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Forced Displacement of and Potential Solutions for IDPS and Refugees in the Sahel : Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger(Washington, DC, 2014-08)A development response to forced displacement in the Sahel requires a regional approach. Such an approach would have the benefits of being able to: (i) overcome challenges relating to cross--- border movements, (ii) obtain commitments by host governments to support the prospects of displaced from neighboring countries and (iii) facilitate common approaches, shared conceptualization and learning. A regional approach will be appropriate in the context of ECOWAS cooperation, as three of five countries suffering the heaviest displacement in the region are members of that organization, namely Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The purpose of this scoping study on forced displacement is to contribute towards the formulation of a regional policy framework for sustainable solutions to displacement and towards the substantiation of a development response. This study, undertaken jointly by UNHCR and the Global Program on Forced Displacement (GPFD) in the Social Development Department (SDV) of the World Bank in June 2013, indicates that the main development challenges for the displaced in the region.Publication Assessing the Impacts and Costs of Forced Displacement : Volume 1. A Mixed Methods Approach(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-05-01)Globally, over 40 million people have been forced to leave or flee their homes due to conflict, violence, and human rights violations either as refugees outside their country of origin or Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). A substantial number live in protracted displacement where return has not been possible.Forced displacement is a humanitarian crisis: but it also produces developmental impacts - short and longer term, negative and positive - affecting human and social capital, economic growth, poverty reduction efforts, environmental sustainability and societal fragility. A prevailing view is that refugees are a burden on the development aspirations of host countries and populations and that negative socio-economic and environmental impacts and costs outweigh the positive contributions (actual or potential) that forcibly displaced people might make. The losses incurred by the displaced populations themselves reinforce perceptions of vulnerability and dependency and thus assumptions of the burden they might impose. This study provides such a methodology. The development and drafting of the methodology and the state of the art literature review was conducted by the refugee studies centre, with valuable and constructive inputs from the partner organizations.Publication Forced Displacement(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-12)This note discusses the development dimensions of forced displacement, and the potential role of the World Bank to address these dimensions and contribute to durable solutions for group's who have returned from or are in displacement situations. For the purposes of this note, forced displacement refers to the situation of persons who are forced to leave or flee their homes due to conflict, violence, and human rights violations.Publication Forced Displacement and Refugees in Sub-Saharan Africa(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-12)Most reports on refugees deal with the immediate needs of displaced people. 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The decision to return is discussed and it is argued that the decision depends on the socioeconomic condition in the host country versus the country of refuge, integration versus return policies in place, the individual set of skills of each refugee, and his or her subjective perception of the political climate in both countries.Publication Political Economy and Forced Displacement : Guidance and Lessons from Nine Country Case Studies(Washington, DC, 2014-06-17)This report was produced for the Global Program on Forced Displacement and describes why and how to conduct political economy analysis (PEA) of forced displacement. It also illustrates how PEA may contribute to understanding forced displacement crises with nine case studies: Casamance (Senegal), Colombia, Cote dapos;Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, the Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, and Zimbabwe. 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PEAs of forced displacement analyze the contestation and distribution of power and resources along with the development challenges associated with forced displacement crises. By nature of their marginalization and the frequently protracted nature of their exile, the forcibly displaced are especially vulnerable as power and resources are disputed. The purpose of conducting a PEA on forced displacement is to inform policy dialogue and operations so that the interests of vulnerable forcibly displaced populations and their hosts are effectively accommodated in resource allocation decision-making and in poverty alleviation initiatives. From the earliest design phase to dissemination of the results, the PEA is essentially an exercise in effectively collecting relevant data, analyzing these, and then marketing the analysis and its operational implications to the right stakeholders. This report is intended to be an aid in navigating these decision points and activities and to encourage more frequent and better use of political economy analysis in evaluating and addressing forced displacement.
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