Figure 1.10: Number of people internally displaced by conflict and violence as of the end of 2016, by region Sub-Saharan Africa 30.3% - 12.2m Middle East and North Africa 29.6% - 11.9m TOTAL 40.3m East Asia and Pacific 1.9% - 0.8m South Asia 8.3% - 3.3m Latin America and the Caribbean 20.0% - 8.1m Europe and Central Asia 9.8% - 4.0m Source: IDMC, with World Bank data Ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016, a group of UN human rights experts called for a spotlight to be thrown on this “invisible majority”.56 They described IDPs as highly vulnerable, and argued that without measures to protect them, address the causes of their plight and prevent future displacement, they could easily become tomorrow’s refugees and migrants (see part 2).57 Intractable conflicts and poor capacity to cope The total number of people internally displaced by conflict and violence has increased since 1998. The overall upward trend is a harsh reflection of the intractability of conflicts and the protracted nature of displacement in many parts of the world, fuelled and complicated by under-development in countries with little capacity to cope with crises. Some of the most persistently high numbers of IDPs have been in sub-Saharan Africa and, since 2012, the Middle East (see figure 1.10). Colombia has also had one of the highest numbers of IDPs over the last 20 years, though this is due in part to the fact that its official registry does not account for the end of displacement (see spotlight, p.29). From Baghdad to Bogotá, the nature of internal displacement varies considerably. There may be more IDPs in Colombia than in Yemen or South Sudan, but those in the latter two countries tend to face greater deprivation and threats to their lives, safety and wellbeing. IDPs who fled violence in Azerbaijan two decades ago still struggle with 26 GRID 2017 precarious livelihoods and adequate housing, but their plight does not compare with that of those in Nigeria, who face many and sometimes daily threats, in some cases suffering attacks and airstrikes on the very camps they flee to in search of safety and life-saving assistance.58 Disaggregating the global caseload of IDPs by the severity of their situation and highlighting which features require most attention – whether it be physical safety, access to food, water and basic services, standard of living or access to livelihoods – would paint a more realistic and three-dimensional picture and provide a much-needed metric by which to assess how to prioritise attention and resources when responding to their needs. Of the total number of IDPs globally, over threequarters, or more than 30 million people, live in just ten countries (see figure 1.11). Of these, Colombia, DRC, Iraq, Sudan and South Sudan have been among the ten countries with the world’s largest populations of IDPs every year since 2003. Most countries on this list are grappling with intractable and recurrent armed conflicts. Over the last ten years, the number of IDPs in subSaharan Africa has fluctuated by region but stagnated overall because of the failure to resolve conflicts such as those in DRC, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Sudan. In the Middle East, the latest waves of violence in Iraq and the relatively recent conflicts in Syria and Yemen have also stranded millions of people for whom there is no end to their displacement in sight. In Afghanistan, continuous conflict and insecurity mean that flight and mobility have become a familiar coping strategy for almost four decades.