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 Ryan Mitra | Jun 24, 2026
This insightful blog examines how internally displaced persons (IDPs) in India are disenfranchised from voting and participating fully in civic life. Widespread failure to recognise people’s displacement status and circumstances shifts many of the burdens of proving identity, residence and voter eligibility onto the shoulders of already traumatised people. IDPs fleeing disasters, conflict or communal violence may have lost their homes and documentation, crossed state boundaries and taken refuge in regions where their native languages are not spoken. Digital access challenges and bureaucratic inefficiencies place the burden of administrative adaptation on those least able to bear it. Too many IDPs are thereby excluded from voter lists.
Though India records large numbers of new disaster displacements every year, it does not maintain a consolidated national displacement database. Such a database, the author argues, would ensure the voting and other rights of internally displaced persons are protected while providing a much-needed tool for monitoring whether IDPs are progressing toward durable solutions.