Dr Ben Hudson provides expertise to UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Internal Displacement

Dr Ben Hudson, Exeter Law School and Routes Co-coordinator, has provided research expertise to the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement. Dr Hudson is Research Affiliate of the Internal Displacement Research Programme at the Refugee Law Initiative, University of London, which recently entered into a research partnership with the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement. The aim of the High-Level Panel is to identify innovative and concrete solutions to the plight of internally displaced persons (IDPs) – persons who are forced or obliged to leave their homes for reasons including conflict or natural or human-made disasters, but who have not crossed an international border. Internal displacement due to conflict and violence has reached an all-time high with over 41 million people currently internally displaced, and a further estimated 20-25 million people become internally displaced every year due to disasters.

Dr Hudson was invited to co-author a briefing paper for the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel with Dr Bríd Ní Ghráinne, Maynooth University, Ireland. Their paper explores the potential of existing global fora as sites or models for inter-State dialogue on internal displacement and assesses the need for a dedicated global forum on internal displacement. According to the High-Level Panel’s website, Drs Hudson and Ní Ghráinne’s paper – along with the other inputs of the Internal Displacement Research Programme – will be 'crucial to shaping the Panel's final report and ultimately its recommendations.'

You can read Drs Hudson and Ní Ghráinne’s paper on the High-Level Panel’s website and an expanded version of the paper will also be published in the Refugee Survey Quarterly before the end of the year.