Challenges for the implementation of the right to education of forcibly displaced children in North-East, Nigeria

This article calls attention to the escalating displacement crisis in South Sudan, where the overlapping impacts of conflict and climate change are deepening insecurity for IDPs and others in displacement affected communities. Highlighting the links between climate events, localized violence and displacement, the article calls on government and civil society stakeholders to acknowledge the worsening 'dual crisis' and do more to embed climate risk management strategies, including disaster risk reduction and climate adaption programming, into civilian protection and conflict resolution policies. Such measures should also support community-based adaptation practices that address IDP needs, empower community leaders and contribute to long-term stability in communities where IDPs reside.

For many of those displaced by Hurricane Melissa, the real disaster is only just beginning. While close to a million people have been evacuated, undoubtedly saving lives, this will likely be the start of a much longer period of displacement for some individuals and communities. Viewed within the broader existing hazard-scape of violence, conflict, resource scarcity and funding challenges in the region, the dangers compound and grow. This short piece, which discusses the long-term risks to people displaced by Melissa, also spotlights the chronic and worsening underinvestment in people and communities required to reduce the risk of disaster displacement and the devastating long-term effects on those affected. The blog underscores why parties negotiating the text of the forthcoming global treaty on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters must ensure that displacement, evacuation and planned relocations are reflected in the provisions and that commitments to international cooperation are backed by the financial resources necessary to make them real.

This article looks back at the development and continued relevance of the 2015 Guidance on Protecting People from Disasters and Environmental Change through Planned Relocations, which established an essential set of principles intended to clarify and uphold the rights of people undertaking or considering planned relocations. The article traces how the Guidelines and subsequent Toolkit have helped broaden the conversation to include not only the rights of relocating persons but also those of host communities, those who remain behind in sites of origin, and all those whose lives are affected by planned relocation. It further discusses how the core principles have remained relevant, even as the Guidelines have been adopted across diverse regional, national and community-level contexts. Finally, the author team, which includes the expert who led the development of the Guidance and Toolkit, suggests a brief research agenda, including areas where further direction is needed regarding issues that have become more salient since the 2015 Guidance was published.