Zimbabwe is prone to rapid and slow onset disasters of both natural and man-made origins that have repeatedly caused several devastating effects and triggered population displacement. Over the last decade, natural disasters caused by cyclones and El-Nino, as well as socioeconomic and political factors have all contributed to migratory movements in the country. Contrary to the picture portrayed by the government of Zimbabwe, internal displacement is more prevalent in the country than is at first discernible. This brief offers an overview of the current policy and legislative framework on internal displacement in Zimbabwe. It identifies the lack of any formal legal recognition of internal displacement and weak property rights as the major drivers of internal displacement.
While there is no national legal framework specifically recognising and providing for the protection and assistance of IDPs, the 2013 Constitution articulates a Bill of Rights that protects the basic rights of IDPs. However, this exposes IDPs to blanket solutions which does not consider IDPs as a vulnerable group requiring specific policies and programmes to support them. As such, the broad recommendation is the domestication of the 2009 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa and the 1998 United Nations Guidelines on Internal Displacement.
By Assma Jihad Awkal and Jasmin Lilian Diab | Nov 20, 2025
This short article spotlights what the authors introduce as “the feminization of recovery” of internally displaced communities in Lebanon's southern border with Israel, where women’s unpaid and unrecognized efforts sustain reconstruction in the absence of formal systems following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah one year ago.
The October 2023 conflict along Lebanon’s southern border displaced thousands, with female-headed households (FHHs) among the most affected. Returning after the ‘ceasefire,’ many women faced destroyed homes, scarce livelihoods, and gender norms privileging male breadwinners, all compounded by Lebanon’s refusal to recognize internally displaced persons (IDPs). Without legal acknowledgement or state support, women relied on informal networks, care work, and community solidarity to rebuild. Drawing on qualitative research (2023-2025), this commentary examines how FHHs transform survival into agency, turning daily labor and mutual support into the backbone of recovery. Recognizing their roles demands a policy shift from short-term aid to gender-sensitive livelihoods, housing repair, psychosocial support, and municipal funding that affirms women not as victims of war, but as architects of post-conflict renewal.