VII. Internally Displaced Persons UNHCR does not have a mandate to protect or assist all conflict-generated IDPs, estimated at some 27.1 million at the end of 2009.(31) However, since the introduction of the inter-agency cluster approach in January 2006, UNHCR has become increasingly involved with IDPs as part of a broader engagement by the United Nations and other agencies. The Office has also continued its programmes Map 4 IDPs protected / assisted by UNHCR | end-2009 IDP population 3,000,000 1,500,000 300,000 Conflict-induced internal displacement | 2001-2009 (end-year) Global number of IDPs (Source: IDMC) Fig 11 28 (Mln.) 24 20 16 12 8 4 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 Share of UNHCR in global IDPs 31 '07 '08 '09 for IDPs to whom it was already providing protection and assistance prior to the adoption of the cluster approach. The number of internally displaced persons, including people in IDP-like situations (32) who benefited from UNHCR’s protection and assistance activities stood at 15.6 million at the end of 2009. This is the highest figure on record, an increase of 1.2 million compared to the previous year (14.4 million) and more than double the figure before the activation of the cluster approach (6.6 million in 2005). UNHCR offices reported at least 4 million newly internally displaced people in 2009, while more than 2.2 million IDPs were able to return home For detailed statistics on global internal displacement, see the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) website of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) at www.internal-displacement.org. 32 The IDP-like situations refer to Georgia (105,700) and the Russian Federation (23,100). 20 2009 Global Trends