Chapter 3 CHAPTER 3 Internal Displacement 79 million new internal displacements in the last decade In the past decade, internal displacement surged to levels never before seen, requiring more engagement from UNHCR around the world as it used its expertise to help more internally displaced persons (IDPs) in more countries. In 2005, when the cluster approach and other aspects of the humanitarian reform process were introduced, 40 UNHCR was working in 15 countries with internally displaced populations. By 2010 the number of countries had increased to 26, and it now stands at 33. In 2005, UNHCR worked with 6.6 million IDPs, a number that grew to about 15 million by 2010 and stood at more than 43.5 million at the end of 2019 – representing an almost 7-fold increase in only 15 years. 40 In December 2005, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee endorsed the cluster approach for humanitarian emergencies, including for situations of internal displacement. Under this arrangement, UNHCR assumes leadership responsibility and accountability for three clusters: protection, shelter, and camp coordination and camp management. 28 UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2019