IDRP
INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT RESEARCH PROGRAMME
Ukraine. Newly displaced people arrive on an evacuation train to Lviv 2023 © UNHCR/Andrew McConnell
The Internal Displacement Research Programme (IDRP) is hosted at the Refugee Law Initiative (RLI), School of Advanced Study, University of London.
The IDRP is a specialised programme that promotes research on internal displacement, including but not limited to policy-relevant research. The IDRP, as an independent research programme, has the following objectives:
- Raise the profile of research on internal displacement in academic and practitioner circles
- Support, disseminate and share current and ongoing work by researchers in this field
- Connect research in this field with that in cognate areas, including refugee studies
- Bring new researchers to the field and develop new cross- and inter-disciplinary work
- Promote and support research capacity in countries affected by internal displacement
LATEST IDRP RESOURCES
By Silvia Cantú Bautista, María Maldonado Antillón, Daniela Chapuz Osorio, Juan Manuel Orozco Moreno | Oct 1, 2026
This first article in RID's miniseries, Towards Dignified Climate Relocation: Community Perspectives from around the Globe, is a moving account of the challenges faced by community members of El Bosque, Tabasco, Mexico, who began to plan relocation in 2022 due to severe coastal erosion. Written by members of two organisations that have advocated for the community, the article recounts the successful legal and communications campaign that persuaded the Government of Mexico to support relocation, as well as the challenges faced during a planned relocation process that did not fully prioritise a participatory, rights-based approach.
The article calls on the Mexican government to remedy the harms to the community while ensuring better future programming through policy changes. It also offers vital lessons for governments, communities and development actors around the globe on community participation, transparent and constant communication, focus on economic and non-economic loss and damage and the need for continuous access to livelihoods, education and health services.
By Kadidjatou Sawadogo | Jun 30, 2026
The working paper examines the impact of humanitarian funding contractions on the realisation of economic and social rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Haiti and South Sudan. Drawing on a human rights-based framework, documentary analysis, and key informant interviews, it analyses how reductions in humanitarian assistance affected access to adequate food and healthcare in contexts of protracted displacement, institutional fragility, and humanitarian dependence. The findings show that funding cuts reduced food assistance, disrupted health services, suspended mobile clinics, and weakened nutrition coverage for displaced populations. Humanitarian actors adopted hyper-prioritisation approaches that focused on life‑saving interventions but left significant protection and socio‑economic needs unaddressed.
The IDRP is led by the RLI Director, Professor David Cantor. Its early career Research Affiliate and established Senior Research Associate networks bring together research specialists in this field.
The IDRP hosts the INDCaP project that created Researching Internal Displacement and works to support the regional networks GENIDA, LANID and MERNID.
THE IDRP PROGRAMME, NETWORKS AND ACTIVITIES
See the IDRP website for further details of the programme and its networks and activities.
LATEST IDRP NEWS
For our readership, we invite original contributions on internal displacement.
IDRP EVENTS
This online conference on 14-15 March 2024 marks the culmination of five years of increasing international engagement with the pressing challenge of ‘solutions’ to internal displacement. Registration now open!
By HIDN | Apr 19, 2021
This expert workshop gathered insight and evidence to advise on the gaps in policy and research relating specifically to the health needs of IDPs, involving over 30 leading researchers in health research from fifteen countries