Deadline: April 12, 2022
Forced displacement is one of the defining social crises in our lifetimes. The number of forcibly displaced people (FDP) — a population that includes refugees, internally displaced people, asylum seekers, hosting communities, and those displaced by conflict or climate impacts — surpassed 80 million in 2020, and projections suggest that 250 million to 1 billion could be displaced worldwide by 2050 from climate change alone.
Eastern Africa is being affected by a series of destabilizing social and climatic shocks that are forcing displacement. This is especially concerning given that the region currently hosts over 4.5 million refugees and 8 million internally displaced people. Humanitarian efforts—while critical—often do not address the longer-term, systemic challenges around employment, economic opportunity, and self-reliance presented by this crisis for the region’s millions of refugees, asylum seekers, and people displaced by climate change. Most forcibly displaced people will never return home, and durable solutions within hosting communities are needed.