Asia: Regional Consultation on Durable Solutions in Disaster Displacement Contexts

Background

Every year, millions of people are displaced in the context of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change. Data from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) show that nearly 29.9 million new and repeated disaster displacements were recorded across 140 countries and territories in 2025. Most of these movements were associated with weather- and climate-related hazards. This figure exceeds the average of 24 million annual disaster displacements recorded over the past 15 years.

In South Asia, IDMC recorded close to 4.6 million internal movements due to disasters in 2025. Nearly two-thirds were linked to a single flood event in Pakistan, with India and Sri Lanka also reporting significant numbers. Floods continue to be the primary driver of displacement, accounting for 78 per cent of movements across the subregion. A cyclone also generated substantial displacement, particularly in Sri Lanka. Other hazards, such as earthquakes in Afghanistan and riverbank erosion in India, contributed to more localized population movements. In East and Southeast Asia, over 17.5 million disaster displacement were reported, representing almost 60 per cent of the global total. The region’s high numbers reflect its considerable exposure to natural hazards, compounded by large populations living in at-risk areas. The Philippines represented more than 60 per cent of all recorded movements in the region, while China accounted for approximately 20 per cent. Storms, including typhoons, were responsible for around 14.8 million displacements, or 84 per cent of the regional total, while floods triggered a further 1.7 million. Geophysical hazards, including earthquakes and tsunamis, generated an additional 707,000 movements.

Most disaster displacements recorded in the region resulted from pre-emptive evacuations, highlighting the importance of early warning systems and preparedness measures in shaping displacement patterns. While such evacuations are often effective in preventing loss of life, they can in some cases lead to prolonged internal displacement, particularly when affected areas become unsafe or unsuitable for return and long-term habitation.

The figures cited above include people who have been forced to leave their homes in the context of hydrological, meteorological and geophysical events such as earthquakes, wildfires, floods and storms as well as slow-onset hazards such as drought. Scientific evidence confirms that climate and weather extremes are intensifying in frequency and severity, increasingly driving displacement across all regions. Without substantial progress on climate adaptation and risk reduction, the scale and complexity of disaster-related displacement will continue to grow.

While many displaced people can return following a sudden-onset disaster, others often remain in protracted displacement situations, particularly when their place of origin has seen major damage, become uninhabitable, and when extreme environmental degradation adversely affects the possibility to resume previous lifestyles, livelihoods and economic activity, or when resources to rebuild in areas of origin are lacking. The number of people internally displaced by disasters is expected to rise in the coming decades as more areas become uninhabitable due to the adverse effects of climate change.

But protracted disaster displacement cannot be explained solely by the severity of the triggering hazard or the extent of physical damage. Evidence increasingly shows that displacement outcomes are also shaped by access to adequate housing, land and secure tenure, livelihoods, essential services, social protection, institutional capacity, community participation and exposure to repeated hazards. These factors often determine whether displacement is resolved within a relatively short period or becomes a prolonged condition of material, legal and protection-related vulnerability.

Evidence is also suggesting that traditional approaches and policy options for finding solutions to internal disaster displacement are not set up or well prepared in meeting the challenge of disaster displacement in general and protracted disaster displacement in particular. Internal disaster displacement is still predominantly addressed through short-term humanitarian responses rather than development and climate action. Without a transition from humanitarian measures to climate-resilient and development-oriented measures that are rights-based, government led, community-based and long-term, it will be harder to prevent, address and resolve large-scale internal displacement occurring in the context of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change.

This Regional Expert Consultation aims to discuss and address these challenges. It is organized jointly by the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) as part of their respective larger projects. The PDD is implementing the project on “New Approaches and Policy Options for Durable Solutions in Disaster Displacement Contexts” (hereinafter project) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The overall aim of the project is to develop recommendations on new approaches and policy options for durable solutions in disaster displacement contexts. The project seeks to establish better understanding of protracted disaster displacement, identify effective practices and to develop and discuss the potential of new approaches to solutions in internal disaster displacement situations. It comes at a time when the global funding crisis and the on-going United Nations reform process require new thinking. IDMC is currently implementing activities in Asia as part of the project on “Enhancing prevention, risk reduction and response to disaster and climate-related displacement worldwide” funded by the European Union’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (INTPA). The project aims to reduce displacement risks and impacts through improved data and evidence, national and regional capacity strengthening and dialogues.

The Regional Expert Consultation will also draw on outcomes and recommendations from the recent Regional Expert Consultation for Latin America and the Caribbean on “New Approaches and Policy Options for Durable Solutions in Disaster Displacement Contexts” which was held on 22 and 23 July 2026 in Panama City, Panama. Building on this earlier consultation, the PDD and IDMC are partnering again to convene this Asia consultation to advance regional and cross-regional exchange on durable solutions to disaster displacement.

Participants in the Regional Expert Consultation will consider the report of the Regional Expert Consultation for Latin America and the Caribbean and consult two complementary draft background documents. The first draft, “Disaster and Climate Change Related Internal Displacement: From Crisis Management to Climate Resilient Development Solutions”, sets out a policy-oriented framework for moving beyond short-term crisis management towards government-led, rights-based and climate-resilient development solutions (Hereinafter Policy Paper). The second draft, “Protracted Disaster Displacement: A Global Review of the State of Knowledge” (Hereinafter Global Study), jointly developed by the PDD and IDMC, examines the available evidence on the scale, drivers and consequences of protracted disaster displacement, as well as the factors that enable or hinder durable solutions. Participants will be invited to identify and share examples of effective practices and jointly develop recommendations on new approaches to durable solutions based on the background documents and drawing on regional experience and expertise.

Objectives

The overall objective of the Regional Expert Consultation is to convene a small group of government representatives, national and regional experts and practitioners and develop recommendations on new approaches to durable solutions in disaster displacement contexts in Asia and the Pacific.

Specific objectives of the Regional Expert Consultation are:

• Present and discuss the latest data and evidence on internal disaster displacement in Asia (Global Report on Internal Displacement 2026).
• Consider and consult on findings and recommendations of the draft Policy Paper on New Approaches and Policy Options for Durable Solutions in Disaster Displacement Contexts and the Global Study on Situations of Protracted Displacement in the Context of Disaster and the adverse Effects of Climate.
• Identify challenges and effective practices on solutions in Asia related to data and evidence, legal and policy frameworks, institutional arrangements and coordination, and financing.
• Encourage dialogue among and with governments to generate political attention and promote peer-to-peer learning on internal disaster and climate-related displacement.
• Develop recommendations on new approaches and policy options on solutions (Outcome Document), to inform national action as well as relevant regional and international processes such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the run-up to the revision of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030) etc.

Cover Image: © IOM Amanda Nero