Guidance for Responding to Displacement in Urban Areas

UN-Habitat and UNHCR have been working together to advance their shared mandate to improve assistance for UNHCR’s persons of concern (PoC).

Both agencies have committed to continue upholding the rights of refugees, IDPs and other persons of concern to UNHCR and affected communities in pursuit of “the attainment of durable solutions with a specific focus on urban, camp, and out-of-camp approaches and activities." They have also committed to supporting national and local governments in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the Global Compact for Refugees. The partnership will be implemented to advance the triple nexus (humanitarian-development-peace) through preparedness, humanitarian response and transition to development, particularly in the case of protracted and recurrent crises.

This guidance (Guidance for Responding to Displacement in Urban Areas) is an effort to bring together and mobilize humanitarian and development partners to ensure coordinated efforts for resilience in cities and towns. Through this lens, the document elucidates the various systems at work, the actors and stakeholders involved in the decision-making processes, and key factors in preparing for and responding to displacement in urban areas. It is designed to build upon organizational mandates to protect vulnerable populations through inclusive and sustainable urban planning and aims to reaffirm and expand a multi-faceted understanding of urban contexts and their specific conditions and dynamics. This will further support UNHCR Country Operations and other humanitarian and development actors operating in cities and urban areas.