This brief succinctly reflects on the main framework for protecting persons affected by natural disasters in Zimbabwe. This brief concludes that the Kampala Convention is needed in order to protect persons affected by natural disasters in Zimbabwe.
Climate disasters such as tropical cyclone storms have become a common phenomenon in the SADC region. Some tropical cyclones such as Eline, Gloria and recently Idai and Kenneth have taken human lives, taken peoples source of livelihood, destroyed people’s homes and caused Internal Displacement of People in several countries in SADC. Zimbabwe is no exception to such catastrophic disasters. The humanitarian situation brought about by Cyclone Idai bear testimony to the need for enhanced state preparedness on natural disasters. This brief examines the law and policy terrain for protecting IDPs in situations of natural disasters.
By Duaa Nooreddine | Jun 11, 2026
This brief paper highlights the problem of "circular displacement". In Lebanon, displacement is not an event with a clear beginning and end. Nor is it simply a recurring cycle. For many affected people, it is an ongoing condition where the effects of displacement are never fully resolved and where each recurring cycle leaves people's lives further depleted.
The effects are especially acute for the many stateless people displaced in a country that does not fully recognise them. Caught in a cycle of conflict and legal exclusion, stateless people in Lebanon, including Dom, Bedouin and Palestinians from Syria, struggle to access formal protection systems, restore documentation or even leave the country. Describing how existing international frameworks intended to address displacement and statelessness fail in Lebanon, the author highlights the need for both operational and legal reforms, including the establishment of a statelessness determination procedure.
