Decades of efforts to draw attention to internal displacement have done little to drive down new displacement, let alone find sustainable solutions. Drawing on research and evidence from HPG’s work, this policy brief (HPG's submission to the UN High-Level Panel on internal displacement) highlights three main areas for action: gender, livelihoods and innovative financing. 

Key messages

• Solutions to displacement do not lie in the development of ever more data, internationally led policy processes or costly international bureaucracies. They lie in the actions of governments and societies, especially in fragile and conflict-affected settings where protracted displacement is highest. 
• A crisis-oriented approach to displacement has obscured its gendered effects. Responses led by humanitarian actors ill-equipped to work on longer-term structural issues have resulted in gaps in addressing issues like gender-based violence, economic justice, voice and autonomy, and sexual and reproductive health. More specialist services are required, as are longer-term, contextually grounded approaches from a wider set of actors. 
• Sustainable livelihoods, particularly for displaced people in urban and peri-urban environments, need greater investment. Longer-term investments to strengthen national social protection schemes that are sensitive to, and inclusive of, displaced people are required. 
• Opportunities exist to expand financing for situations of internal displacement, including new funding models involving partnerships between the private sector, traditional funders and aid agencies. Private sector resources could be leveraged more effectively, while greater advantage could be taken of financing for anticipatory action, infrastructure development and employment creation.