Giving Compass' Take:

• A new initiative called the GP20 lays out different priorities regarding internally displaced people and encourages countries to be accountable for addressing certain priorities. Before now, there has not been a comprehensive strategy for helping IDPs. 

• Providing aid to internally displaced people is a complex issue that has not received enough attention from the development sector until recently. How can foreign aid agencies hold everyone involved accountable for giving proper attention to the priorities of the GP20 initiative?

•  Read about the conditions of Syrian refugees and what they hope to see before returning home. 

A new United Nations initiative could foster much-needed coordination on internally displaced people, but the multistakeholder work — not backed by official funding — will still largely depend on national governments to take the lead.

Impacted by everything from conflict to climate change, IDPs have long been sidelined by humanitarian aid and development projects and frameworks. No one single U.N. agency, convention or international body is tasked with their protection. And the new U.N. global compacts on migration and refugees do not specifically mention them.

“This is an opportunity to really shine the light on dozens of millions of people that are often left behind, the most vulnerable during a humanitarian crisis, and then after the crises are left stranded without development support,” said Jane Backhurst, a senior adviser on humanitarian policy and advocacy at Christian Aid, which has been consulting on the plan of action work.

“There's a recognition among us that IDPs aren't getting the attention they deserve. It is a complex issue, but it's also because perhaps we haven't been working strategically enough together,” explained Elizabeth Eyster, chief of the IDPs section at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

While estimates vary, the U.N. has reported that there were approximately 40 million people internally displaced by conflict and violence in 2016, while an additional 24 million people were displaced by natural disasters.

The GP20, as it is known, spells out four priority issues in trying to reduce the numbers of IDPs: Participation of IDPs; national laws and policies addressing displacement; better data and analysis; and long-term solutions for protracted displacement.

Countries on board could look to the GP20 and identify specific initiatives or objectives they want to take on, using the framework as a launching point.

Read the full article about internally displaced people by Amy Lieberman at Devex International Development