States are the Solution, Not the Problem
Former UN Assistant Secretary-General
Sustainable protection in displacement contexts must be anchored in national systems, local ownership, and the rule of law.
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An independent research platform on the governance of displacement.
Displacement Policy examines how responsibility for displaced populations is organised across institutions, public systems and financing arrangements — and why protection and solutions often become fragmented as people move across legal categories, territories and systems.
Its research connects displacement with public policy, institutional design, political economy and finance to explore how responsibility can be sustained more effectively over time.
RESEARCH AGENDA
Research on how displacement is governed.
The research agenda examines how responsibility for displaced populations is assigned, financed and sustained — and where institutional continuity breaks down across public systems, jurisdictions and time.
Analytical Framework
Three core concepts examine where responsibility breaks down, what institutional continuity requires and why reform is possible or constrained.
Explore the framework →Areas of Research
Research spans public systems and social protection; public finance; development and infrastructure; climate, disasters and mobility; and legal status, territory and multilevel governance.
View the research areas →Research Outputs
Policy briefs, working papers, Perspectives, regional governance mapping and collaborative research build a cumulative body of evidence and analysis.
See how the agenda advances →Comparative Evidence
Southeast Asia Displacement Governance Mapping
A structured evidence base examining how responsibility for displacement is assigned across laws, institutions, public systems, safeguards, and financing arrangements.
Current regional focus: Southeast Asia.
Explore the Governance Mapping →Perspectives
Ideas on how displacement is governed.
The System We Forgot We Were Building
Global Director, Violence Prevention & Response, IRC
Humanitarian protection and social work have always been more closely connected than the sector often admits.
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When Protection Leadership Is Not Enough
Founder and Director, Displacement Policy
Protection outcomes often depend less on formal policy commitments than on leadership choices, institutional incentives, and mandate design.
Read perspectiveResearch Outputs
Latest publications.
Policy Brief No. 4
Fiscal Architecture of Displacement
Sovereign finance and the recurrent fiscal obligation problem.
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Policy Brief No. 3
Beyond Shock-Responsiveness
Horizontal integration as the next frontier of adaptive social protection.
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Policy Brief No. 2
The Infrastructure Finance Gap
Development-induced displacement and the limits of project-based safeguards.
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