Nansen Initiative

The Nansen Initiative is a state-led, bottom-up consultative process intended to build consensus on the development of a protection agenda addressing the needs of people displaced across international borders by natural disasters, including the effects of climate change. The key principles and elements regarding the protection of persons displaced across borders in the context of natural disasters. 

The planned outcome of this process is a protection agenda based on three pillars:

1)  international cooperation and solidarity;

2)  standards for the treatment of affected people regarding admission, stay, status; and

3)  operational responses, including funding mechanisms and responsibilities of international humanitarian and development actors.

The agenda will cover all relevant phases, namely:

1)  preparedness before displacement occurs;

2)  protection and assistance during displacement; and

3)  transition to solutions in the aftermath of the disaster.

While the Nansen Initiative focuses on the needs of persons displaced across borders, it will also address related issues such as disaster risk reduction, internal displacement, or the management of migration as an adaptation measure.

Development Partners: Co-Chaired by the Governments of Norway and Switzerland