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High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges, 2015
Understanding and addressing root causes of displacement
The eighth annual High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges will take place on 16 and 17 December 2015, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on the theme: Understanding and addressing root causes of displacement.
The number of people displaced by conflict and violence has reached levels unseen since the end of the Second World War, with close to 60 million forcibly displaced by the end of 2014.
People are also increasingly caught in 'semi-permanent' crises and protracted displacement.
Almost 50 per cent of refugees have been in exile for five years or longer, and millions of them have been displaced for decades. Third generations of refugees are now being born in refugee camps.
Meanwhile, solutions to displacement are elusive. Because of ongoing violence and unrest in many countries, 2014 saw the lowest number of voluntary repatriations since the early 1980s.
Against this backdrop, the overarching objective of the Dialogue is to bring together States, intergovernmental organizations, civil society and other relevant humanitarian and academic partners so as to understand better existing and newly developing root causes of displacement and to identify actions to prevent, address and resolve them.
The Dialogues have been established since 2007 to facilitate informal consideration of global protection issues by UNHCR, States and other stakeholders. They consist of a mix of plenary sessions, breakout discussions and side events. The outcomes are summarized by the High Commissioner and may include recommendations for follow-up action.
UNHCR official documents
Additional Materials
- Opening statement by Professor Arjun Appadurai, Paulette Goddard Professor in Media Culture and Communication at New York University
- Briefing paper: Understanding the root causes of displacement, IDMC 2015
- NGO Key Messages on Root Causes of Displacement
- Addis Ababa Commitment towards Somali Refugees
- UN Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015) on Youth, Peace and Security
- Nansen Initiative: Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change
- Guidance on Protecting People from Disasters and Environmental Change through Planned Relocation, October 2015
- UNHCR, the Environment and Climate Change, October 2015
- The Challenge of Sustainable Peace - Report of the Advisory Group of Experts for the 2015 Review of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture
- Report of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations on uniting our strengths for peace: politics, partnership and people
- 'Human Rights Up Front' Initiative
- UNHCR Global Trends - Forced Displacement in 2014
- IDMC Global Overview 2015 – People internally displaced by conflict and violence
- Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, A/70/L.1
- Restoring Humanity, Global Voices Calling for Action - Synthesis of the Consultation Process for the World Humanitarian Summit, Executive Summary