Co-organized by the Multilateral Dialogue of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Geneva, together with the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the event brought together a diverse set of States, partners and other stakeholders to reflect on achievements since the Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda was endorsed in 2015 and discuss the future of protection and solutions for disaster displaced persons in the current context of funding cuts and reforms of the multilateral system.
Reflecting on a Decade of Progress – and Persistent Challenges
The opening high-level panel, chaired by H.E. Christian Guillermet Fernandez, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica, Chair of the PDD Steering Group, offered a moment of stocktaking. Speakers recalled the origins of the Nansen Initiative, launched by Norway and Switzerland in 2012 to build consensus on protecting people displaced across borders in the context of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change. The resulting Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda, endorsed by over 100 governmental delegations in October 2015, has since become an important reference and toolbox for States and other stakeholders to prevent, respond to and resolve disaster displacement and its impacts. Participants highlighted the continued relevance of the Protection Agenda in a context where, despite important progress, the scale of the challenge has grown dramatically. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), disasters triggered 45.8 million new internal displacements across 163 countries in 2024 alone. Many are forced to leave their homes due to floods, storms, geophysical hazards, droughts and other climate-related disasters. Scientific evidence from the IPCC projects that such displacement will continue to rise as the climate crisis intensifies.
UN80 Reform and the Humanitarian Reset
The Policy Dialogue panels highlighted the profound institutional shifts underway in the multilateral system in 2025, a year marked by cuts in humanitarian funding this year that have already reduced operational capacity throughout the system, but also ongoing reform efforts, in particular the UN80 Reform and the Humanitarian Reset, launched earlier this year by the UN Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Speakers critically assessed and debated the opportunities and challenges of these reforms. They agreed that UN80 and the Humanitarian Reset must ensure not to overlook the specific needs of people displaced in disaster and climate contexts. They noted that such displacement is more than a humanitarian challenge and called for a better integration of humanitarian, development, and climate action.
Panelists saw a real chance in the UN80 process to break existing silos and mainstream climate action in humanitarian, development and other relevant policy areas. They emphasized the need to prioritize prevention. They discussed that meaningfully addressing and finding durable solutions for disaster displaced persons requires nationally-owned, government-led, evidence-based and community-driven action, supported by the international community, including through predictable and accessible long-term financing. To make the humanitarian and development system more effective, accountable, and fit for future challenges, the UN80 reform process needs a strong strategic vision going beyond necessary bureaucratic and institutional reform measures. If one well, the current reform process may be a real opportunity to strengthen localization through financing and capacity building of local actors, supported by a renewed international system.
Regional Solutions at the Center
A third panel showcased regional leadership, featuring perspectives from representatives of governments, regional organizations, civil society and youth. Discussions underscored that solutions exist at the regional level and need to be further strengthened, at a moment where the international system undergoes reforms. Regional policy frameworks, such as the Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility, the Chile Declaration and Plan of Action 2024-2034 in the Americas, or the IGAD Free Movement Protocol and Kampala Declaration in Africa provide context-specific responses that now need ‘teeth’ for their implementation.
Throughout the event, speakers reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda across stakeholders, countries and regions. Participants emphasized the need to:
- Reinforce political commitment to rights-based protection and predictable pathways for people displaced in the context of disasters and climate change.
- Ensure the UN80 reform process safeguards and expands protections for people at risk of disaster displacement.
- Invest in prevention, including disaster risk reduction, anticipatory action and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
- Strengthen (sub-)regional mechanisms and South-South cooperation as base for coordinated national and local action.
- Meaningfully include local communities, youth, IDP- and refugee-led organization as partners, not beneficiaries.
As Professor Kaelin, Envoy of the Chair of the PDD, noted: “The Protection Agenda remains as relevant today as it was in 2015. What we do in the next decade will determine whether millions of people can find safety, dignity and solutions.”
The event was co-organized by the Multilateral Dialogue Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Geneva, the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) and its current Chair, the government of Costa Rica, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
