Sustainability Language

Human Rights & Social Sustainability

Displacement

The forced movement of people from their homes due to conflict, violence, persecution, disasters or environmental change — internally or across borders.

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Definition

Displacement is the movement of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or to avoid armed conflict, generalised violence, human rights violations, or natural or human-made disasters (IOM Glossary). People who remain within their own country are internally displaced persons (IDPs) under the 1998 Guiding Principles; those crossing borders may become refugees or asylum seekers. UNHCR recorded 68.7 million internally displaced people at end-2025, and disasters displaced 29.9 million people in 2025.

References

UNESCO

displaced persons definition

UNHCR

IDP statistics (68.7 million, end-2025)

NRC

disaster displacement (29.9 million in 2025) and IDMC methodology

Overview

What it means

The human face of conflict, disaster and — increasingly — climate stress; displacement is a status of lost home, not just movement.

How it is used

The term structures humanitarian response, protection mandates (UNHCR, IDMC statistics), durable-solutions policy and emerging climate-mobility frameworks.

Why it matters

Displacement is a core social-sustainability and climate-justice metric; development projects and conservation can also cause it, making it a due-diligence concern.

Review

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