Women, War, Peace and
Displacement

The often cited statistic that as many as 80 per cent of displaced populations are women and children fails to convey the complete devastation that displacement visits upon women and communities in general. Leaving homes, property and community behind, renders women vulnerable to violence, disease and food scarcity, whether women flee willingly or unwillingly. Internally displaced women face additional dangers as they are often invisible to the international community within the borders of countries at war. Camps for refugees and the internally displaced have been criticized for not addressing women’s needs and concerns in their design and procedure. Failure to account for women’s security and health needs can make a camp dangerous and deadly, when it was intended to provide refuge. Nonetheless, UN, governmental and civil society organizations that service displaced women have begun rising to the challenge of including women and gender perspectives at every stage of policy and implementation.

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Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre - IDMC - http://www.internal-displacement.org/

Global Statistics:

Persons Internally Displaced by Conflict

This table includes the most recent available figures on IDPs displaced by conflict. Please note that most of the figures are estimates. Where a range is indicated, the first source/date refers to the lower figure and the second to the higher one.

More statistics and analyses of available figures can be found in the Internal Displacement Profiles in the IDP database which are linked from the country names in this table.

For an analysis of current internal displacement trends, see the Global Overview.