Coordination and Response Division

Emergency Services Branch

Internal Displacement Division

Internal Displacement Division

INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT DIVISION

Planned Staffing	Regular Budget	Extra-budgetary	Projects	Total
Professional	-	-	13	13
General Service	-	-	1	1
Total	-	-	14	14
Staff costs (US$)	-	-	2,952,371	2,952,371
Non-staff costs (US$)	-	-	408,495	408,495
Total costs (US$)	-	-	3,360,866	3,360,866
Total requested (US$)				3,360,866

The cluster leadership arrangements, endorsed in September 2005 as part of the humanitarian reform, reflect to a significant degree proposals made by the Inter-Agency Internal Displacement Division (IDD) in June 2005. They represent a significant opportunity for a major shift – over the longer term – in how the UN system responds, with its partners, to internal displacement. In the medium term, this will affect IDD’s current role as advocate for an improved collaborative response in a limited number of countries and across specific neglected sectors. In 2006, IDD will need to focus particularly on supporting cluster leads and preparing for a responsible handover of some of its functions.

OCHA expects that field implementation of the new cluster leadership arrangements may be quite slow, and in this context, IDD’s expertise and resources should be retained, with some adjustments downwards, in the immediate term. Any future transition and larger-scale downsizing during 2006 should be carefully calibrated to match progress in shouldering displacement-related activities by cluster leads and the rest of OCHA.

IDD’s strategic objective in 2006 is to support the further strengthening of the inter-agency arrangements and capacities of United Nations agencies and other relevant actors to meet the immense humanitarian challenges of internal displacement. In particular, IDD will support
the realization of an effective, accountable and predictable collaborative approach to the protection and assistance needs of the internally displaced at the country level through the humanitarian coordinator system.

In line with the 2004 Memorandum of Understanding, specific external partnerships with the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Global IDP Project and with the Office of the Representative of the Secretary-General (RSG) on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons will be maintained and further strengthened. In addition, IDD will provide specific support to UNHCR and UNDP, who are the cluster leads in four sectors of particular concern (Protection, Emergency Shelter, Camp Coordination/Management and Early Recovery).

Activities:

Support the four clusters of concern in implementing the humanitarian reform:

• Advise and support the ERC, IASC agencies and HCs/OCHA on the implementation of the new cluster leadership approach in the four major displacement-related clusters. These include:

  - Supporting smooth transition to new arrangements in priority countries;

  - Assisting UNHCR and UNDP with the identification of field-level cluster leads where they are unable to take on the role;

  - Alerting the ERC to challenges and concerns relating to field-level implementation in the four clusters of concern;

  - Ensuring cross-cutting concerns of gender, age, HIV/AIDS and Housing, Land and Property Rights (HLPR) are adequately addressed by cluster leads.

• Support and participate in inter-agency assessment/capacity mapping exercises at the field level, in particular supporting the cluster lead in assessing IDP protection needs and gaps in priority countries.
• Support, as requested, the capacity building efforts of agencies participating in the four clusters, particularly with regard to IDP protection and strategy formulation.
• At HQ level, engage with and provide direct support as requested to the four cluster working groups, ensuring that key concerns (e.g. return planning) are taken into account.
• Directly support implementation of the PROCAP project as per proposal.
• Facilitate participation of the Red Cross movement and NGOs in the implementation of the cluster lead approach at the field level and in ongoing reform discussions at HQ.

Promote and support enhanced implementation of the Collaborative Response on the ground:

• Continue to support HCs and CTs in implementing the collaborative response in those priority country situations that are not (as yet) part of the cluster leadership accountability framework. Advise the ERC and IASC WG on major concerns and provide support and guidance to IASC partners (including cross-cutting concerns, e.g. gender) as appropriate.
• Support appropriate adjustments to the IASC policy framework and tools for collaborative response, focusing also on securing improvements in weaker sectors, e.g. ensuring return and reintegration issues are adequately addressed in early recovery and protection clusters; IDP profiling; IDP counting methodology/information management.
• Support OCHA and IASC partners as they address issues of the implementation of displacement-related cluster accountabilities in integrated missions.
• Collate and disseminate best practices in IDP response, particularly in the area of protection, in cooperation with the RSG and NRC.

Support the ERC, HCs and rest of OCHA to discharge their mandated internal displacement responsibilities:

• Contribute to the design and implementation of a capacity building programme for HCs and OCHA on IDP response coordination roles and responsibilities.
• Support the ERC’s efforts in the areas of resource mobilisation in support of internal displacement programmes and the cluster leadership arrangements.
• In coordination with NRC and the RSG, propose preparation of an annual overview on the international response to internal displacement, possibly through the framework of the ERC’s reporting responsibilities on the protection of civilians.
• In coordination with the RSG and NRC, advise
  and support the ERC in mobilising host authorities, regional organisations, donors and IASC partners to step up efforts to improve the response to displaced peoples’ protection and assistance needs.
• Support efforts to ensure more predictable and accountable responses to natural disaster-induced displacement in the key clusters.

Indicators:

• Number of countries where cluster leadership arrangements are effectively implemented in four clusters of concern (end 2006).
• Number of countries where effective protection response frameworks are in place (end 2006).
• Number of countries where UN agencies and other actors are responding adequately and
  effectively to large-scale crises of internal displacement (end 2006).

The Norwegian Refugee Council’s IDP database and Guiding Principles training

At the request of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and the Emergency Relief Coordinator, the Norwegian Refugee Council manages an IDP database and carries out trainings on the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. The role of the NRC with regard to providing IDP-related information and training is acknowledged in a Memorandum of Understanding concluded between the NRC, OCHA’s Internal Displacement Division, and the Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced People. OCHA works in partnership with NRC to strengthen the collaborative response and encourages donors to provide funding for these projects.