Refugees, IDPs, and Humanitarian Assistance
Adapted from CIS Presenter Bryan Schaaf
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
U.S. Department of State
•All Slides Unclassified
The State of the Displaced (as of end 2010)
• 43.7 million people forcibly displaced,
the highest number in 15 years. This
includes;
– 15.4 million refugees
– 27.5 million internally displaced
– 837,500 asylum seekers
• Largest numbers of refugees are in
Pakistan (1.9 million), Iran (1.1 million)
and Syria (1 million).
• 7.2 million refugees in long-running
situations across 24 countries.
• Refugees and asylum seekers gravitate
to urban areas and IDPs to rural areas.
Refugee returnees in both rural and
urban areas.
Environmental Issue One: Land
•
Refugee camps often located on marginal land
– Prone to floods, droughts, breeding ground for
mosquitoes.
– Having qualified site planners is critical.
– Short term versus long term planning
• Refugee camps never meant to be
permanent, but often exist for decades.
• Additional land must be negotiated.
•
Access to land for agriculture often restricted
– Denied in Kenya, granted in Uganda.
– Implications for food security.
•
Lack of formal land tenure systems
– Both a development and humanitarian issue.
– A source of conflict in many countries, but no one
UN Agency is responsible for land tenure.
• Ex: Land, shelter, and solutions in Haiti.
• Ex: UNHCR assistance in mediating land
disputes for returnees to the DRC.
Environmental Issue Two: Water
• Why is water a critical issue?
– Promotes public health, reduces patient visits
to health clinics.
– Reduces social burden on women and
children as well as protection risks.
• What causes water programs to fall
short?
– Lack of technical input/capacity, especially in
remote and isolated areas.
– Lack of community involvement.
– Lack of preventative maintenance.
– Lack of ongoing monitoring and evaluation.
– Lack of long term strategic planning.
Kenya: What does this picture tell you?
Kenya: What Does This Picture Tell You?
Environmental Issue Three: Sanitation
• Sphere Standards for Sanitation
– Number: Maximum 20 people/latrine
working toward one latrine/family as
soon as possible.
– Protection: Separate latrines for men
and women, no more than 50 meters
from dwellings.
• Complicating Factors
– Topography: Terrain may not be
conducive to digging latrines
– Ownership: Land-owners may resist
latrine digging on properties that have
become IDP sites.
– Natural Disasters: Flooding can
destroy latrines, cause health hazards.
Chad: Is This An Acceptable Latrine?
Tunisia: What Does This Picture Tell You?
Environmental Issue Four: Fuel
• Nearly half of the world’s population –
about 3 billion people – cooks their food
each day on polluting, inefficient stoves
• Why is this a problem for:
–
–
–
–
For refugee health?
For refugee protection?
For the environment?
For relations between refugees and their host
communities?
• Interventions
– Fuel Efficient Stoves (FES)
• USAID Evaluations in Darfur, Kenya
– Ethanol Stoves (Ethiopia)
• Project Gaia
– Solar Power (Kenya)
• EDP Foundation
– Reforestation (Chad)
• UNHCR
1 month supply of wood in Dadaab
500 – 1,000 Kenyan Shillingsillings
What Does This Picture Tell You?
Fuel (Cont.)
• Current Initiatives
– Fuel and Firewood Initiative (Women’s
Commission)
• Objective: Develop and disseminate
guidelines concerning safe access to
cooking fuels and to encourage rigorous
field testing of alternatives to wood.
– Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
• Objective: Save lives, improve livelihoods,
empower women, and combat climate
change by creating a thriving global market
for clean, efficient cooking solutions.
• Future Opportunities
– Costing/Replicating alternative energy sources
– Improving evidence base for fuel efficient stove
uptake/usage
– Expanding partnerships with universities,
foundations, private sector.
Getting Started in Humanitarian Assistance
• Help Wanted: Advocates, diplomats,
policy makers, and IO/NGO staff.
• Consider volunteering/working
with:
– NGOs that protect/assist conflict
victims overseas; or
– NGOs that have offices in the
United States (e.g, that integrate
resettled refugees.)
– The American Red Cross offers
trainings on disaster response.
• Be familiar with humanitarian
principles/standards. Knowing
languages very helpful.
Online Resources
Humanitarian Jobs Blog
Relief Web
Interaction
International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
Humanitarian News and Analysis (IRIN)
OCHA Online
World Humanitarian Day (August 19th)
Sphere Handbook