Please have a listen to Episodes 24 and 25 of the podcast Jointly Venturing - Let's Talk World Citizenship hosted by DS Director and Founder, Scott Leckie. In Episode 24 we speak with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Cecelia Jimenez-Damary, about her extraordinary efforts to assist the growing IDP populations scattered across the planet. In Episode 25, which has just been released, we speak with the world's leading judge responsible for some of the most important climate change cases to reach courtrooms to date, New Zealander Bruce Burson. Please tune in here to have a listen - https://open.spotify.com/show/5ltnbn1Hdy2T80ul0HNrsU - as well as iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher and Apple Podcasts. Better yet, subscribe, follow and write a review - it really helps! Episode 26 will be recorded this week where we host the world renowned 'Dictator Hunter', Reed Brody. Be sure to tune in!...

A new report on Promoting Affordable Housing in Yangon, Myanmar published by the Asian Development Bank has, among other recommendations, urged the government of Myanmar to consider establishing a National Climate Land Bank to proactively address the looming climate displacement crisis in the country. The report notes that "Myanmar’s housing sector is struggling to cope with rapid urbanization, internal migration, and new demand from recent economic growth. These challenges are most apparent in the Yangon Region, where estimates suggest there will be a housing shortage of 1.3 million units by 2030. This publication assesses the current housing market situation in Yangon. It identifies reform options and offers practical recommendations to support the Yangon Region Government’s implementation of its affordable housing agenda and related policies." With a specific recommendation to establish a climate land bank, the report continues "The central importance of land for security, stability, and economic development is already well-recognized by the present government and by all organs of civil society, which have commenced identifying state land resources for eventual distribution to landless rural poor households as part of broader land reform efforts. In this context, the establishment of the MNCLB would be a further element of broader land…...

Ten Years of Action It is hard to believe that DS has now been active for ten busy and eventful years. This has been quite a ride for our (intentionally) small and flexible organisation, and one involving an wonderful team of dedicated HLP experts from around the world working in a range of displacement hotspots. From developing the Peninsula Principles, to spearheading global efforts to obtain land for climate displaced people, developing IDP return designs in Timor Leste, Somalia, Colombia, Bhutan and many more, carrying on-site investigations in Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Panama, Kiribati, Bangladesh and other climate change-affected areas, to conducting HLP rights analysis and restitution design work in Myanmar, advising the UN on HLP issues in Syria, publishing several books, inaugurating the world’s first law school courses on climate displacement, and writing DS reports, producing films, building homes for climate displaced families in Chittagong, and so much more, this first DS decade has been an exhilarating one. Since our founding on 28 December 2006, DS has worked in some 35 countries to assist in finding rights-based solutions to forced displacement in all of its forms. Besides our legal experts, we have had the honour of working with villagers, community…...

Displacement Solutions and the United Nations Human Settlements Agency - UN Habitat - today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining a framework for collaboration between the two organisations; globally, regionally, nationally, and at city-level. The collaboration between the Parties will be implemented with a focus on minimizing the impact of global climate change and increasing resilience of human settlements at risk. It is expected that this Agreement will lead to new urban development paradigms for ‘predictive planning’ in (primarily coastal) cities and towns affected by sea-level rise and coastal erosion. The collaboration builds on UN Habitat’s City Resilience Profiling methodology and influencing the resulting resilience action plans via DS’ “Peninsula Principles”, and Climate Displacement Land Initiative. These complimentary programmes will include increased awareness of options and solutions to access, legislate, service and commission land for populations displaced by rising sea levels, coastal erosion or shoreline breaching; Integrating research leading to best practice and up-scaling; and, through implementation of pilot initiatives in towns and cities participating in joint programming, increasing their resilience to the impacts of climate change and other risks. DS and UN Habitat will jointly carry out research, policy, advocacy and project design and implementation including joint design…...