New blog reflects on 10 years of the Nansen Initiative’s Protection Agenda and its impact on disaster displacement policy and protection worldwide.
As world leaders convene this week at COP30 in Brazil, the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law has partnered with the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to launch ‘Nansen Initiative +10’. This new blog reflects on 10 years of the Nansen Initiative’s Protection Agenda, providing a timely reminder of the importance, and fragility, of what has been achieved so far.
The first piece is by the Envoy of the Chair of the Platform on Disaster Displacement, Walter Kälin. Entitled ‘A Glass Half Full’, it reflects on a decade of advances in addressing disaster displacement and international protection.
‘There was an upbeat mood in the Geneva conference room where 109 States endorsed the Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda on 13 October 2015. … Ten years later, much of this optimism has vanished in a world marred by rising authoritarianism, armed conflict and denial of the climate crisis by certain world leaders. Yet, it is important to remember today that much progress has been made over the past decade – progress that cannot be easily dismantled.’
–Walter Kälin
The Nansen Initiative’s Protection Agenda was the culmination of a multi-year process of consultations with governments, affected communities, civil society organisations, international agencies and other experts. It set the path for a comprehensive approach to disaster displacement, focusing on the protection of people displaced across borders and promoting measures to manage disaster displacement risks.
‘Nansen Initiative +10’ offers reflections on how the Protection Agenda has shaped legal and policy developments over the past 10 years at the national, regional and international levels. It is housed on the Kaldor Centre’s Climate Mobility Hub, which provides further context and background about the issues.
Visit the blog and read ‘A Glass Half Full’.
For more information about displacement in the context of climate change and disasters, visit the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law website.