2025 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Side Event: Displacement in Disasters – Participation and Innovation for Resilience

Background

Each year, millions of people are displaced in the context of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) estimated that in 2023, disasters triggered 26.4 million new internal displacements spanning across 148 countries and territories. While unfortunately this trend is expected to grow, there are a range of tools and practices available to prevent and reduce instances of disaster displacement, address the associated impacts and extend protection to those displaced.

This side event showcases available tools and practices that can be replicated and scaled to address disaster displacement, evacuations, planned relocation, prevention and mitigation response and solutions to disaster displacement at the local, national, regional and global levels.

Drawing on available data and evidence, this event links science with policy formulation and implementation, putting participation and leadership of affected countries and communities first, in a creative way that will inspire participants to test relevant global tools in their various work contexts and settings, including the Words into Action on Disaster Displacement, the Disaster Resilient Cities Scorecard Disaster Displacement Addendum, the Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda, and others.

This side event highlights multistakeholder collaboration and collective action for an inclusive, protection- and human rights based approach to disaster displacement, recognizing that different groups experience displacement in different ways and have unique and context-specific solutions to these challenges.

This event fosters effective practice exchange among and inspires reflection on how to apply and adjust these in other places and settings, including in unconventional ways. A key takeaway will be the importance of collaborating with non-traditional DRR actors including artists to open new perspectives and promote innovative and inclusive approaches driving community sense of agency on disaster risk reduction and disaster displacement.

Session Objectives

• This side event focuses on the importance of multistakeholder collaboration and comprehensive approaches to disaster displacement. It encourages DRR actors to collaborate with non-traditional partners including artists, representatives of groups of migrants and displaced persons active on DRR to foster a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the human impacts of disasters.
• This side event will showcase how meaningful participation of affected communities in discussions and decision-making processes can look like, with particular attention to the rights of people and groups in vulnerable situations.
• The side event brings together a range of stakeholders including governments, international organizations, civil society actors, academics, artists and other actors to exchange practices and experiences and promote innovative collective action on disaster displacement and planned relocation. It will use art and innovative ways of engagement to bring effective practices to the forefront.

Cover photo: Asian Development Bank