NEW YORK - With reconstruction efforts underway in countries devastated by conflict and disasters, often while violence and displacement are still ongoing, the choices made today will determine if millions of internally displaced persons achieve durable solutions and if societies emerge more inclusive and resilient than before, a UN expert said today.
"The ultimate test of reconstruction is not how many buildings are rebuilt, but whether people can rebuild their lives without fear of being uprooted again," said Paula Gaviria Betancur, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, presenting her report to the UN General Assembly.
Reconstruction needs have reached an unprecedented scale - more than USD 71 billion in Gaza, USD 11 billion in Lebanon, USD 216 billion in the Syrian Arab Republic, and some USD 588 billion in Ukraine. Immense needs also exist in Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan and beyond, and in disaster-affected contexts they are equally staggering.
"Reconstruction is never neutral," Gaviria Betancur said. "Who decides, who pays and who benefits will determine whether reconstruction repairs or deepens the harm done to displaced communities."
The Special Rapporteur cautioned that reconstruction too often focuses on physical structures, overlooking the people whose lives have been shattered. While there is no universal model for reconstruction, she called for a rights-based approach that includes measures to ensure safety, revive economic opportunities, reinforce public institutions and restore the social fabric of affected communities.
"Reconstruction that is only about buildings and budgets can entrench displacement rather than ending it," she said. "It can reward those who profited from destruction and produce cities to which internally displaced persons simply cannot return."
"Reconstruction must start with the rights of those who lost their homes and reckon with what cannot be rebuilt with bricks and mortar: the missing, the places of memory, the space to mourn and the bonds that hold communities together," Gaviria Betancur said.
"Displaced people who have lost everything are owed more than a roof," the expert said. "They are owed justice, recognition and institutions they can trust. They must decide what comes next and have a say in the future of their communities."
Reconstruction can do more than restore the past. When internally displaced persons are recognised as partners and agents of recovery, reconstruction can help break the cycles of exclusion and marginalisation that drive displacement, and build resilience, development and peace. It is a rare chance to make future displacement less likely.
"National authorities must lead and own the process, backed by reliable data, effective monitoring and clear accountability, but international cooperation and sustained funding will remain essential," Gaviria Betancur noted.
"Few decisions are more consequential after mass devastation than those about reconstruction," Gaviria Betancur said. "The test is simple: can people rebuild their lives and futures in safety and dignity? Or will reconstruction perpetuate displacement and exclusion."
