Internal displacement has long been an urban phenomenon, with an estimated 60% of internally displaced persons (IDPs) now living in cities. While urban areas may offer safety, services and opportunity, they also expose displaced populations to heightened risks to the enjoyment of their human rights such as legal invisibility, inadequate housing, discrimination, and exclusion from public life.
Hosted by the Columbia University Committee on Forced Migration, a Columbia Global initiative, this event will examine the (re)integration of IDPs in urban environments through the lens of rights, realities, and pathways forward.
Event details:
Welcome Remarks: Wafaa El-Sadr, Executive Vice President, Columbia Global
Presentation: Paula Gaviria Betancur, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of IDPs, presents key findings from her latest report to the UN General Assembly on (re)integration of IDPs in urban settings.
Panel Discussion: Following the presentation, a discussion will explore the intangible dimensions of (re)integration in cities — mental health, identity, belonging, justice, peacebuilding — and their role in durable solutions. The debate will also focus on the role of locally led and rights-based approaches to (re)integration implemented by local authorities, civil society and international partners.
Panelists:
- Daniel Naujoks, SIPA Professor & Coordinator, Committee on Forced Migration, Columbia Global (Moderator)
- Sivanka Dhanapala, Director, UNHCR New York Office
- Fernando Travesi, Executive Director of the International Center for Transitional Justice
- Caitlin Sturridge, Senior Research Fellow Displacement, ODI Global (remotely from Nairobi)
- TBD, UNDP
About the Committee on Forced Migration:
The Columbia University Committee on Forced Migration is a University-wide initiative coordinated by Professor Daniel Naujoks.
The Committee was created by the Columbia Global Centers as a response to the dramatic increase in the number of forced migrants and migration crises around the world. The Committee seeks to maximize Columbia’s ability to act as a platform to engage, support, and share information across its community of faculty, students, and staff on issues related to forced migration. The Committee and the Centers are both part of Columbia Global, which brings together the University’s global initiatives, partnerships, and research.
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