This briefing presents the findings and recommendations of a global workshop of over 30 experts in health research, practice and policy from fifteen countries, which was convened by the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and the Internal Displacement Research Programme in February 2021. For further detail, see the workshop outcome report and the background discussion paper for the meeting.
IDPs experience worse morbidity and mortality than other conflict-affected populations Conflict-affected IDPs have significantly worse morbidity and mortality then other populations in, and from, conflict-affected countries. This pattern exists across a range of health areas, including communicable/vectorborne diseases and mental health disorders. This adverse impact of internal displacement on health can be long-lasting, inter-generational and differentiated by gender and age.
By Elizabeth Ferris, Erica Bower, Sanjula Weerasinghe | Oct 30, 2025
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.