A woman carrying a sack on her head wades through water up to her ankles towards a group of houses.
In the slums along the coast of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, rising sea levels increasingly force the inhabitants to leave their flooded homes. Copyright: © UNOPS

The Nansen Initiative sought to improve the protection of persons displaced across borders due to disasters and the negative impact of climate change. They are not recognised as refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The Nansen Initiative sought to bridge these gaps by compiling a set of innovative approaches from the states concerned. One of its goals was to improve disaster preparedness in order to prevent such forced displacement and ensure better protection for those affected. Measures in the areas of disaster reduction, climate change adaptation and humanitarian assistance were integrated into a protection agenda, which 109 governments adopted in October 2015 in Geneva. The Platform on Disaster Displacement monitors and implements the protection agenda together with states and other stakeholders.

Last update 25.07.2023

Contact

Peace and Human Rights Division

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3003 Bern

Phone

+41 58 462 30 50

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