IDPs

Citation:

Horst, Cindy, and Anab Ibrahim Nur. 2016. “Governing Mobility through Humanitarianism in Somalia: Compromising Protection for the Sake of Return.” Development and Change 47 (3): 542–62. doi:10.1111/dech.12233.

Author: Cindy Horst

Abstract:

This article aims to contribute to an increased understanding of the importance of migration in humanitarian and ‘post-humanitarian’ contexts, by exploring the interlinkages between protection and displacement. It argues that the strategies by which conflict-displaced populations protect themselves are largely based on mobility. Yet, humanitarian approaches to displaced populations do not take sufficient account of the mobility needs of those they assist. Furthermore, the actual location at which aid is provided is affected by funding realities and donor priorities. This article discusses the case of protracted displacement realities of Somali refugees and internally displaced people in Kenya, Somaliland and south-central Somalia. Based on in-depth semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with humanitarian aid workers and displaced people, the article offers an analysis of the recent ‘stabilization discourse’ that fuels programming directed at the return of displaced Somalis. The authors argue that humanitarian protection is compromised by immobile aid practices and by humanitarian programmes that are guided by states’ interest in refugee return.

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Forced Migration, IDPs, Refugees, Gender, Women, Humanitarian Assistance Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya, Somalia

Year: 2016

Citation:

Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora, and Julieta Lemaitre. 2013. “Internally Displaced Women as Knowledge Producers and Users in Humanitarian Action: The View from Colombia.” Disasters 37 (July): S36–50. doi:10.1111/disa.12011.

Authors: Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, Julieta Lemaitre

Abstract:

The literature on evidence-based action in humanitarian crises commonly focuses on how inter-and non-governmental organisations can produce better knowledge and how this can be translated into improved programming. Yet, there is little recorded experience of, or concern about, how the beneficiaries of humanitarian relief can produce and use knowledge of their predicament. This paper is based on a case study of how the Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas, an internally displaced women's organisation in northern Colombia, employs proactively research-generated data to advance its own agenda in its interactions with donor bodies and the government. The paper finds that beneficiaries of humanitarian aid can, and do, use participatory research to advance their own ends in the legal and political spaces created around humanitarian crisis. However, their agency is limited by poverty, violence, and local balances of power. The paper concludes that beneficiaries' priorities in the production of data about humanitarian crises warrant further study.

Keywords: collaborative research, Colombia, displacement, food security, humanitarian, participation

Topics: Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Gender, Women, Humanitarian Assistance, NGOs Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2013

Citation:

Bosmans, Marleen, Fernando Gonzalez, Eva Brems, and Marleen Temmerman. 2012. “Dignity and the Right of Internally Displaced Adolescents in Colombia to Sexual and Reproductive Health.” Disasters 36 (4): 617–34. 

Authors: Marleen Bosmans, Fernando Gonzalez, Eva Brems, Marleen Temmerman

Abstract:

In Colombia, national policies and laws on the protection of vulnerable populations pay specific attention to the sexual and reproductive health needs and rights of internally displaced adolescents. This paper describes how a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)-supported programme (September 2000–August 2004) on the sexual and reproductive health of internally displaced adolescents contributed to restoring their dignity as a precursor to promoting their sexual and reproductive health rights. Different forms of the arts were used as basic techniques to discover their body and to provide sexual and reproductive health information and education. The arts were found to play a key role in restoring their dignity. Although dignity appeared to be a determinant of greater awareness of rights, it did not lead to increased empowerment with regard to rights. The availability of and access to sexual and reproductive health services remains a problem and displaced populations continue to have little or no power to hold their authorities accountable.

Keywords: adolescents, Colombia, dignity, internally displaced persons, sexual and reproductive health, sexual and reproductive health rights

Topics: Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Gender, Girls, Boys, Health, Reproductive Health, Humanitarian Assistance Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2012

Citation:

Wirtz, Andrea L., Kiemanh Pham, Nancy Glass, Saskia Loochkartt, Teemar Kidane, Decssy Cuspoca, Leonard S. Rubenstein, Sonal Singh, and Alexander Vu. 2014. “Gender-Based Violence in Conflict and Displacement: Qualitative Findings from Displaced Women in Colombia.” Conflict and Health 8 (10).

Authors: Andrea L. Wirtz, Kiemanh Pham, Nancy Glass, Saskia Loochkartt, Teemar Kidane, Decssy Cuspoca, Leonard S. Rubenstein, Sonal Singh, Alexander Vu

Abstract:

Introduction: Gender-based violence (GBV) is prevalent among, though not specific to, conflict affected populations and related to multifarious levels of vulnerability of conflict and displacement. Colombia has been marked with decades of conflict, with an estimated 5.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and ongoing violence. We conducted qualitative research to understand the contexts of conflict, displacement and dynamics with GBV. This as part of a multi-phase, mixed method study, in collaboration with UNHCR, to develop a screening tool to confidentially identify cases of GBV for referral among IDP women who were survivors of GBV.

Methods: Qualitative research was used to identify the range of GBV, perpetrators, contexts in conflict and displacement, barriers to reporting and service uptake, as well as to understand experiences of service providers. Thirty-five female IDPs, aged 18 years and older, who self-identified as survivors of GBV were enrolled for in-depth interviews in San Jose de Guaviare and Quibdo, Colombia in June 2012. Thirty-one service providers participated in six focus group discussions and four interviews across these sites.

Results: Survivors described a range of GBV across conflict and displacement settings. Armed actors in conflict settings perpetrated threats of violence and harm to family members, child recruitment, and, to a lesser degree, rape and forced abortion. Opportunistic violence, including abduction, rape, and few accounts of trafficking were more commonly reported to occur in the displacement setting, often perpetrated by unknown individuals. Intrafamilial violence, intimate partner violence, including physical and sexual violence and reproductive control were salient across settings and may be exacerbated by conflict and displacement. Barriers to reporting and services seeking were reported by survivors and providers alike.

Conclusions: Findings highlight the need for early identification of GBV cases, with emphasis on confidential approaches and active engagement of survivors in available, quality services. Such efforts may facilitate achievement of the goals of new Colombian laws, which seek to prevent and respond to GBV, including in conflict settings. Ongoing conflict and generalized GBV in displacement, as well as among the wider population, suggests a need to create sustainable solutions that are accessible to both IDPs and general populations

Keywords: gender-based violence, Intimate partner violence, conflict, displacement, Colombia, humanitarian settings

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Forced Migration, IDPs, Domestic Violence, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Humanitarian Assistance, Livelihoods, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Sexual Violence Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2014

Citation:

Siapno, Jacqueline Aquino. 2009. “Living through Terror: Everyday Resilience in East Timor and Aceh.” Social Identities 15 (1): 43–64. doi:10.1080/13504630802692903.

Author: Jacqueline Aquino Siapnoa

Abstract:

Keywords: resilience, embodying peace, equilibrium, agency, speaking beyond trauma, militarised masculinities

Topics: Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Health Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania Countries: Indonesia, Timor-Leste

Year: 2009

Citation:

Okello, Moses Chrispus, and Lucy Hovil. 2007. “Confronting the Reality of Gender-Based Violence in Northern Uganda.” International Journal of Transitional Justice 1 (3): 433–43. doi:10.1093/ijtj/ijm036.

Authors: Moses Chrispus Okello, Lucy Hovil

Abstract:

Two decades of conflict in northern Uganda have had a devastating impact on the lives of thousands of civilians. Like so many of today's ‘dirty wars,’ gender-related crimes have been pervasive. While numerous disciplines over the past century have developed sophisticated theories for understanding the nature and agency surrounding sexual offences, the nascent field of transitional justice is only just beginning to grapple with these issues or design appropriate measures of redress. This paper is based on research undertaken to look at issues of gender-based violence (GBV) in four camps for the internally displaced in northern Uganda in order to provide insight into the nature and prevalence of GBV within a specific context. The findings show that specific GBV dynamics need to be scrutinised within zones of conflict and taken into consideration in the policies adopted post-conflict. The paper both illuminates the nature of such abuses within the Ugandan context and points to the need for concerted attention to be paid to the pervasive gender dimensions of violence when designing transitional justice mechanisms.

Topics: Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Refugee/IDP Camps, Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Justice, Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2007

Citation:

Kabachnik, Peter, Magdalena Grabowska, Joanna Regulska, Beth Mitchneck, and Olga V. Mayorova. 2013. “Traumatic Masculinities: The Gendered Geographies of Georgian IDPs from Abkhazia.” Gender, Place & Culture 20 (6): 773–93. 

Authors: Peter Kabachnik, Magdalena Grabowska, Joanna Regulska, Beth Mitchneck, Olga V. Mayorova

Abstract:

Over 200,000 people became internally displaced after several violent conflicts in the early 1990s in Georgia. For many internally displaced persons (IDPs), gender relations have been transformed significantly. This translates to many women taking on the role of breadwinner for their family, which often is accompanied by the process of demasculinization for men. In this article, we examine the construction of masculinities and analyze the gendered processes of displacement and living in post-displacement for Georgian IDPs from Abkhazia. We identify the formation of ‘traumatic masculinities’ as a result of the threats to, though not usurpation of, hegemonic masculinities. Drawing on interviews, we highlight how IDPs conceptualize gender norms and masculinities in Georgia. Despite the disruptions that displacement has brought about, with the subsequent challenges to IDPs' ideal masculine roles, the discourses of hegemonic masculinities still predominate amongst IDPs. We further illustrate this point by identifying two separate gendered discourses of legitimization that attempt to reconcile hegemonic masculinities with the current contexts and circumstances that IDPs face. These new traumatic masculinities do coexist with hegemonic masculinities, although the latter are reformed and redefined as a result of the new contexts and new places within which they are performed.

Keywords: masculinities, displacement, internally displaced persons, trauma, Georgia, Abkhazia

Topics: Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Gender, Women, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Trauma, Livelihoods, Post-Conflict Regions: Asia, Central Asia, Europe, South Caucasus

Year: 2013

Citation:

Schuller, Mark, trans. 2011. “‘They Forgot about Us!’ Gender and Haiti’s IDP Camps, Interview and Translation.” Meridians 11 (1): 149–57. doi:10.2979/meridians.11.1.149.

Author: Mark Schuller

Abstract:

The article presents personal reactions of women to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The article discusses the psychic trauma of living in the Haiti's displacement camps after the earthquake. Topics include the camps' poor access to water, statistics relating to violence against women in the camps, and instances of forced eviction.

Topics: Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Environment, Environmental Disasters, Gender Regions: Americas, Caribbean countries Countries: Haiti

Year: 2011

Citation:

Cagoco-Guiam, Rufa. 2013. Gender and Livelihoods among Internally Displaced Persons in Mindanao, Philippines. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings-London School of Economics Project on Internal Displacement

Author: Rufa Cagoco-Guiam

Annotation:

• What are the gender dimensions of the deprivations of livelihoods due to internal displacement?
• How can efforts to restore or access new livelihoods help advance gender equity and support internally displaced women as agents of positive change at different levels (from local to the national levels)?
• Are there particular livelihood strategies that advance the rights and well-being of internally displaced women, their families, and communities? In what ways?
• What are the potential contributions of innovative livelihood initiatives to peace building, the reconstruction process and the pursuit of durable solutions to displacement?

Topics: Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Gender, Women, Livelihoods, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Philippines

Year: 2013

Citation:

Aletegani, Abass Y., Bashir, Nagla Mohamed, and Mohamed Ahamad Nour. 2012. “The Assessment and Mapping of Initiatives on Women Protection and Livelihood Support in South Darfur.” In The Role of Women in Promoting Peace and Development, edited by Nicklas Svensson. 149-160. Lund, Sweden: Media-Tryck Lund University

Authors: Abass Y. Aletegani, Nagla Mohamed Bashir, Mohamed Ahamad Nour

Abstract:

This research assesses women’s need of protection and livelihood in South Darfur’s IDPs camps and host communities, and makes a database on the organizations (national and international) and government bodies working with livelihood and protection. The humanitarian crisis in Darfur leaves women more vulnerable to high rates of poverty, violence (domestic violence, sexual gender-based violence), insecurity and displacement. Many studies about the effects of war on women have been carried out but most of them focus on IDP populations and do not include the host communities, although they contain some of the IDPs. The objectives of the need assessment were to quantify IDP women’s needs around their human rights protection and livelihoods in South Darfur and to establish a database on institutions working on women’s protection and livelihood needs including national and international agencies, women’s organizations, and government bodies in South Darfur. This needs assessment uses participatory rapid assessment techniques, applying gender analysis tools and processes and combines qualitative and quantitative tools (interviews, focus group discussions, story telling, participant observations, active listening). The first part of the research concerned the training of the team in holding field surveys, how the team deals with IDPs inside the camp to give the right information. The result showed that women in IDPs camps practice different income-generating activities (IGAs) to earn money. They need more training in IGAs and in new forms of work that let their products compete in the market and earn more money. Regarding protection, women need more training programs in human rights and violence. Most women need to see that reporting violence against them has a result. This report is the result of a study undertaken by a team of academic staff from the Peace Studies and Community Development Centre, invited and supported by UNIFEM and the University of Nyala in 2007 and comparing and assessing the situation in 2011.

Topics: Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Refugee/IDP Camps, Economies, Poverty, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Livelihoods, Sexual Violence, SV against Women Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Sudan

Year: 2012