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Findings and Recommendations of the First International Conference on Development-Induced Displacement and Impoverishment Findings Recommendations 9 - 13 September 1996 1996 OXFORD STATEMENT on Reconstructing Livelihoods of Displaced People Recommendations Oxford Technical Findings of the Inter n ational Conference on Displacement and Resettlement on Reconstructing Livelihoods of Displaced Peoples 3-7 January 1995 Findings and Recommendations of the First International Conference on Development-Induced Displacement and Impoverishment From 3-7 January 1995, an international group of 70 specialists from 28 countries, including researchers, representatives of government and non-governmental organisations, assembled at the University of Oxford at the invitation of the Refugee Studies Programme, Queen Elizabeth House, to examine population displacement and impoverishment induced by efforts to generate sustainable social and economic development. Government efforts to promote economic growth, especially through the development of large-scale infrastructure , are necessary to counter poverty and to improve social services. In the last decade, the World Bank estimates that 90-100 million people have been displaced by urban, irrigation and power development projects alone. The proportion of people displaced by urban development is becoming greater than those displaced by large-scale infrastructure projects , such as dams; the number of people affected is far greater than those forced across national borders and defined as refugees. Along with human sufferings and socio-economic costs, such displacement can result in global humanitarian crises and will remain on national and international agenda. Development-induced displacement commonly unravels the underlying social fabric of a people, especially indigenous groups, by fragmenting social networks, weakening or dismantling families and whole communities, causing the loss of vital cultural knowledge, devaluing potentially irreplaceable biocultural diversity, debilitating authority systems, and reducing the capacity to self-manage and cope with uncertainty. Unchecked, it leads to loss of self-respect and cultural identity, and to loss of the physical and cultural resources needed to maintain even a minimal livelihood. Finding The failure to avoid displacement or opportunely mitigate involuntary resettlement will increase impoverishment, unemployment, exhaust natural resources, and lead to social and cultural disintegration of large segments of national populations. Displacement-induced impoverishment takes many forms, including unemployment, homelessness, landlessness, increased morbidity and mortality , marginalization , food insecurity, loss of access to common property , social disintegration, and deprivation of human rights. In the absence of a clear national policy to avoid or minimise displacement, some national governments have faced social unrest and have been forced to use their limited human and financial resources in prolonged confrontations . They have even faced international scrutiny for alleged human rights abuses.
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Governments which have not adequately dealt with the development of displaced people have failed to realise the full potential of their infrastructure projects to generate employment, relieve poverty, and promote social integration The problems associated with involuntary displacement have been exacerbated by faulty implementation of resettlement programmes and the inadequate training of personnel. Many affected people were already poor, vulnerable, and socially discriminated are most likely to be subject to discrimination . While all displaced people are at a high risk of impoverishment, the risk is often disproportionately higher for children, women, the elderly, ethnic minorities, and indigenous people. Because of inadequate and ill conceived planning and defective implementation in a number of projects , displaced people have become long-term economic, political and social liabilities. Training of those responsible for implementing resettlement and rehabilitation programmes, building the institutions of those to be resettled as well as the host population who will receive them is critical to successful mitigation of displacement. The affected populations also go beyond those who are physically relocated. They include the communities in areas to which people are relocated and their host societies. Recommendations Recognizing the need for development actions to increase employment, reduce poverty , and promote social integration, the first priority of national governments should be to find non-displacing alternatives o t displacement-inducing development initiatives. If displacement is unavoidable, action should be taken to insure that the displaced at least regain their earlier living standard and benefit from the project . They should be fully compensated for losses and be helped to re-establish their livelihoods and recover from social and cultural disruptions. Affected people, including potential host communities, should be informed and participate fully in the determination of their future. At the very least, national governments should incorporate the emerging international standards into national policies and domestic legislation for mitigating the negative impacts of involuntary displacement. The policy and legal framework must go beyond eminent domain and protect the social, economic and cultural rights of people displaced and affected by development projects . Special provisions should be made in this framework to protect the rights of vulnerable groups like the children, the elderly, women, indigenous peoples and for conserving cultural knowledge. Suitable training facilities should be created to conduct research and train government employees and others responsible for population displacement. 9 - 13 September 1996 1996 OXFORD STATEMENT ON RECONSTRUCTING LIVELIHOODS OF DISPLACED PEOPLE Involuntary displacement persists as an unwelcome item on national and international agendas. Despite strenuous efforts being made to enhance living standards and protect human rights, each year another 10 million people are uprooted and impoverished by development projects . They join a pool of 50 million refugees displaced over the years by conflict and political persecution . These displacements unleash multiple risks of impoverishment, initiate unnecessary human suffering, harm social and economic development, and undermine the civil society of the displacees and their hosts. Displacement increasingly spills over national boundaries, threatening regional development and economic integration.
In response, multilateral agencies are adopting policies o t address the counter-development impacts of displacement. The World Bank Group has undertaken a bankwide review of its portfolio to determine the impact of its guidelines and improve its policy and procedures . In 1991, all 25 OECD countries signed formal guidelines for involuntary resettlement in projects they finance. Regional development banks are strengthening their policies, operations, and staffing in resettlement and displacement issues. And, although emerging less rapidly, new national policies and legal frameworks are proving indispensable to resolving, with adequate resources, the problems created by displacement. Technical progress is also being made to understand how to control the social, cultural, environmental and economic processes set in motion by displacement. From 9-13 September 1996, experts on involuntary resettlement and displacement convened for the Second International Conference on Displacement and Resettlement at the University of Oxford, England. Delegates from 24 industrialised and developing countries - scholars, practitioners , government representatives, bilateral and multilateral donors, and NGO representatives - struggled with ways to improve the first generation models and to incorporate the cumulative, social knowledge on displacement and apply this knowledge to the challenge of reconstructing the livelihood of displaced people. The single most significant technical finding is that displacement need not necessarily lead to impoverishment - as expressed in its many forms including landlessness, homelessness, deteriorating health and nutritional standards, a loss of food security, unemployment, loss of access to commonly shared resources, disarticulation of the social bonds, and marginalisation . Ample social knowledge has established that simple compensation or relief does not permit the displaced to reconstruct and improve their livelihoods on a productive basis nor does it protect the integrity of societal and cultural groups. Rather, risk reduction and reconstruction requires a solid legal and policy framework ; carefully Grafted , long term social, cultural and economic development programmes; adequate allocation of financial and institutional resources, and trust in and promotion of the capacity of the displaced. The technical findings on reconstructing livelihoods of displaced peoples are attached . Recommendations The Second International Conference endorses the findings of the First International Conference on Displacement and Resettlement , January 1995 and calls upon governments, donors, non-governmental organisations, development agencies and the private sector to: avert unnecessary population displacements and redouble efforts o f r effectively addressing and protecting, both at the policy and practical level, the rights and entitlements of the displaced and avoid their impoverishment. encourage the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD) to review its 1991 resettlement guidelines o t assess improvements over past practices and share the lessons learned with those responsible for technical improvements in dealing with displacees. Likewise, bilateral donors and United Nations agencies, led by the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) should initiate policy and practice reviews comparable to that of the 1995 World Bank review. The terms of reference for such reviews should draw upon the technical findings for improving resettlement and rehabilitation policies and practice prepared by the 1995 and 1996 Oxford Conferences. Facilitate the full participation of displaced people and affected populations in the design, implementation, management, and evaluation of resettlement and rehabilitation programmes . Reprioritise the allocation of resources for displacees to long-term and development-oriented resettlement programmes . The programmes should be designed to support displaced people and affected populations in their efforts to reconstruct and improve their livelihoods, to maintain the social fabric of their communities, and to safeguard their cultural identity. OXFORD TECHNICAL FINDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DISPLACEMENT AND RESETTLEMENT ON RECONSTRUCTING LIVELIHOODS OF DISPLACED PEOPLES Involuntary displacement increases the risk of impoverishment. From 9-13 September 1996 the Refugee Studies Programme, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford convened
delegates from 24 industrialised and developing countries including scholars, practitioners , government representatives, bilateral and multilateral donors, and NGO representatives to examine measures which reduce the rs ik of impoverishment which continues to haunt uprooted populations. The Conference reconfirms the findings and recommendations of the First International Conference on Displacement and Resettlement and fmds that the risks of impoverishment from involuntary displacement are reduced when: Displacement is avoided from the onset. Donor and resettlement agencies, in co-operation with fully informed affected populations , search - at the earliest planning stage - for solutions to avoid or minimise displacement. If after all options are exhausted and resettlement proves unavoidable, displacement is transformed into a development opportunity for the displacees. Resettlement is a dynamic process whose impacts on displacees takes place at different times. To avoid impoverishment and facilitate development, resettlement need take place within a context which includes carefully laid out policies, legal frameworks , and development strategies explicitly designed to a) avoid impoverishment , b) build financial arrangements and associated institutional arrangements to meet the medium and long term needs for reconstructing the livelihoods of the displaced , and c) assure effective actions to mediate non -desirable outcomes from the perspective of the displacee. Relief strategies are transformed into development strategies that draw on the regularities being identified through research on the displacement -resettlement process, adjusted to specific cultural aspirations and local conditions. Agencies, together with those to be displaced, prioritise risk factors that might lead to impoverishment. At minimum, the factors include the risks ofhomelessness, landlessness, marginalisation , erosion of health status, loss of access to common property and shared resources, decreased food security, and social disarticulation .
External assistance involves institutional co-operation and is technically targeted to effectively reach those people facing the highest risk of impoverishment . Displacement programs not only repay their full replacement social and economic costs to the displaced, but improve their livelihood. Enhanced attention is given estimating the social and cultural costs of displacement and maintaining and reinforcing their socio-cultural priorities . Specific means should be sought to facilitate the ability of the displaced to create and accumulate social capital. o r t resettlement and to promptly restore the wealth of the displaced, Abroadaccounting is used o t estimate wealth prio based on not only produced assets, but also human, natural and social capital. Land-for-land compensation is made to displacees, with sufficient lead time and resources to rebuild lost or damaged io t account. When rebuilding is not possible, new, viable productive systems. Land quality as well as quality is taken n economic activities are initiated. External assistance is effectively channelled through local institutions accountable to the displaced, thereby reducing the inherent political risks , especially those of exacerbating factionalism. Having identified and helped to enhance the diversity and strength within the displaced population, agencies fully integrate the capacities and skills of the displacees into rebuilding and improving their disrupted livelihoods. This integration includes the informed participation of relocated and other affected populations, resettlement experts , and host populations in the design, implementation and evaluation of the resettlement process from initial inception through community rebuilding.
Inter-institutional arrangements, financing, and legal arrangements are provided to design, implement, manage and monitor appropriate land and water use systems and displacees assume control of and manage the resources through their own institutions. Local notions of entitlement to common property and community resources are recognised and enhanced. Such actions are extremely important for maintaining the socio-cultural and ecological integrity of indigenous cultures. These resources often play an integral part of the economic strategies of the poorest . Alternative, acceptable common resources are provided in consultation with affected populations . Displacees are able to maintain environmentally sustainable access to the local natural resources at least comparable to those in their home area. Health risks are diminished by using a thorough planning process including provisions for initial risk assessment, buffering health risks through insurance and appropriate institutions , conducting routine health surveillance and health auditing, and incorporating health professionals within the displaced population in the development process . Sufficient financing is provided to support a broad spectrum of alternatives identified as improving livelihoods. Long term, job creation strategies emphasise community-based and community -supported projects, including but not limited to micro-projects Performance criteria and monitoring are established for resettlement , including routine, regular measures ofdisplacee satisfaction, measures of the transformations of their livelihood, and the ability of the peoples to rebuild adaptive strategies and social capital and to self-manage the post relocation conditions. Finally, the technical discussion agreed that rehabilitation of the displaced can be considered successful when assistance focuses on long term results rather than short -term viability, when affected communities become full beneficiaries of development strategies, when adequately funded local institutions are enhanced and replace the responsibilities of facilitating agencies, and when, at the minimum, the displaced have improved their standard of living compared to their pre-displacement situation.
9/ 12/96 Oxford, England Theodore Downing and Chris McDowell, Chairs of Resolution/Findings Committee
