This news comment is attributable to Raouf Mazou, UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Operations
Internally displaced people arrive to work their land as part of an agricultural project in Lusenda, Democratic Republic of the Congo. © UNHCR/John Wessels
Today, more than 48 million people remain forcibly displaced within their own countries due to conflict and violence, with the majority women and children.
Amid ongoing conflict and persecution and a global deficit of peace, the rate of internal displacement is on a worrying trajectory.
Driven by crises in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, the Sahel, Mozambique, Yemen and several others, the number of internally displaced people rose by more than 2.3 million last year alone.
In the face of continued global inaction, fresh waves of displacement are inevitable while the plight of those already uprooted will become increasingly desperate.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the protection and solutions recommendations made today by the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement.
I echo the call to governments, civil society and the private sector to step up collectively to help prevent, respond to and resolve forced displacement.
UNHCR will continue to scale up its work in situations of internal displacement, together with affected communities, and UN, humanitarian and development partners, bringing to bear our long standing experience in refugee protection and solutions.
