International Organizations

OHCHR’s Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights at International Borders are the result of wide-ranging expert consultations to draw up normative guidelines on the governance of international borders. They are intended to inform the work of States, international agencies and other stakeholders with an interest in human rights-based border governance. The Principles and Guidelines accompanied the report of the Secretary-General on Protection of Migrants (A/69/277) presented to the 69th session of the General Assembly held in 2014. 

The first World Report on the health of refugees and migrants, launched by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the framework of the WHO Health and Migration Programme, has been published in 2022. 

The first Global Action Plan addressing the health of refugees and migrants was adopted by WHO member states in 2019, to assert health as an essential component of refugee assistance and good migration governance. 

This Plan is instrumental in prioritising efforts to improve global health equity by addressing the physical and mental health and well-being of refugees and migrants worldwide and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals for these populations as well as the objectives of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees.

The CLIMB Database on Human Mobility in the Context of Disasters, Climate Change and Environmental Degradation (UNNM, 2023), compiles over 1578 national policy instruments in 172 countries and over 230 bilateral and/or regional policy instruments between 140s and 2022 across sectors of human mobility, disasters, climate change and sustainable development. This database shows the increasingly higher extent of references and provisions to the distinct dimensions of human mobility in the context of disasters, climate change, and environmental degradation in existing and diverse policies.

Established by the UN Network on Migration in May 2019, the Fund is governed by a diverse and inclusive Steering Committee and administered by the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office.

Committed to safe, orderly, and regular migration, the Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund supports the adoption and implementation of the Global Compact for Migration to encourage the uptake of migration approaches that benefit communities of origin, transit, and destination, as well as migrants. 

Addressing displacement in the context of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change has been part of the regional agenda of the South American Conference on Migration (SACM) in recent years.

Government officials and humanitarian actors participated in two three-day simulation exercises, one between Kenya-Ethiopia (3-5 May 2023) and one between Uganda-Kenya (9-11 May 2023). These exercises were aimed to test and validate Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on admission and stay in cross-border disaster displacement contexts. Its objective was to offer pragmatic guidance for the two countries on improving collaboration in preparation for, and response to, sudden-onset hazards such as floods and landslides, which occur frequently in this region.

A number of UN agencies and partners established a Joint Programme funded under the Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) to improve regional and national migration governance in the context of the adverse impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. To enhance this governance, evidence is key. The Joint Programme has therefore supported these studies. Among the sudden onset hazards that are relevant in determining such displacement figures in the IGAD region, floods and cyclones play an important role.

The Project to Avert, Minimize and Address Disaster Displacement (PAMAD) aims to develop a better understanding of displacement in the context of losses and damages associated with climate change and support measures aimed at averting, minimizing and addressing displacement and its impacts for vulnerable people and communities.

Objectives:
Develop a better understanding of displacement in the context of losses and damages associated with climate change

This Words into Action guide offers practical guidance to help government authorities integrate disaster displacement and other related forms of human mobility into regional, national, sub-national and local DRR strategies in accordance with Target (E) of the Sendai Framework, to revise or develop DRR strategies by 2020. It provides basic background information and highlights the various roles DRR and DRM can play in reducing, preparing for and responding to disaster displacement.