Sixty percent of people internally displaced within their own countries by conflict or disaster would rather remain in their current locations than return to their communities of origin, according to new report.

And of people who have been displaced more than five years, 96 per cent of people wanted to stay where they were, according to the second edition of the ‘PROGRESS’ report, published by the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) Global Data Institute in partnership with Georgetown University.

The report is the world’s most comprehensive analysis of the global state of solutions to internal displacement. There are currently more than 58.5 million people internally displaced across the globe.

“Despite variations between contexts and causes of displacement, a majority of IDP households surveyed across nine countries included in this year’s analysis, wish to stay in their location of displacement from year one of displacement onwards. This suggests that supporting local integration in the first few years of displacement would correspond to IDP intentions,” the report said.

The report found the length of displacement affects solutions intentions.

“Local integration preferences approach 100% by year 5 of displacement in disaster settings – with higher percentages (69.5 per cent) of conflict-displaced also expressing an intention to remain in their area of displacement,” the report said.

Displacement solution preferences differ significantly between people displaced by conflicts and those by disasters, the report said.

“A higher percentage of those displaced by disasters intend to stay in their current location than those displaced by conflict in eight of the nine countries analysed,” the report said.

Multiple displacement is experienced by more than a third of surveyed IDPs, the report said.

AImost 41 per cent respondents reported that they had been displaced on multiple occasions; 59.2 per cent said that they had been displaced only once.

The report found safety and security was the most frequently cited influence on solutions intentions.

“Data on the perceptions of safety (of mostly conflict-displaced households) shows that most (95 per cent) surveyed IDPs feel safe in their locations of displacement and female-headed households are just as likely to feel safe as male-headed households,” the report said.

Among the report’s recommendations include an urgent pivot towards local integration.

The report “strongly suggests the need for a pivot by all stakeholders to improve IDP prospects for achieving the preferred solutions, by making local integration support programs widely available”.

“Additionally, information sharing with IDPs about available support provided by the authorities and partners to achieve solutions and a consistent monitoring of the intentions of IDPs would help identify any new trends in the durable solutions, the report said.

It also recommends governments and authorities develop more tailored policy responses to support durable solutions by considering the cause of displacement and associated displacement related vulnerability.

“This could include, for example, tackling the lasting impact of disaster-displacement on shelter and housing to ensure return or investing in community engagement programmes to facilitate local integration,” the report says.

It recommends “national authorities and practitioners should ensure that IDPs are able to participate in plans for their displacement solutions” and “livelihoods programming is critical to support IDP solutions of return and local integration in communities”.

IOM Deputy Director Ugochi Daniels said humanitarian and development partners often struggle to identify and measure solutions to internal displacement.

“To address this need, IOM has collected IDP data for two decades, but the dedicated solutions-oriented evidence based was still required. PROGRESS aims to fill this gap.,” Ms Daniels said.

Read the full PROGRESS report here: PROGRESS 2024 | Displacement Tracking Matrix