On 20 January 2016, the Danish Mission to the UN in Geneva hosted a meeting with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of IDPs, Dr Chaloka Beyani, to discuss the value of profiling in displacement situations and share information about the work of JIPS and the current 2015-2017 strategy with partners in Geneva.
Chaired by the Danish Ambassador, Carsten Staur, the event heard from distinguished panelists including Dr Chaloka Beyani, Steven Corliss from UNHCR, and Maria Luisa Silva from UNDP. The event was attended by representatives from many Geneva-based UN member state missions and a variety of operational and policy-oriented partners interested in the subject of profiling.
In his presentation, Dr Beyani reflected on his experience since starting to work with JIPS in 2012, and emphasised the positive impact of JIPS work in many displacement situations. He cited Afghanistan and Honduras as examples where JIPS’ work was able to directly influence policy and support the creation of legislation for IDPs. Instead of producing abstract facts and figures, Dr Beyani said, JIPS was able to help Governments and UN country teams to construct a ‘characterisation of displacement’ that provides a more complete understanding of the context and helps to identify possible next steps for local stakeholders.
Steven Corliss, Director of UNHCR’s Division of Programme Support and Management (DPSM), further reflected on the drivers behind the creation of JIPS in 2009, and the need for continued support and partnerships with other organizations. Steve Corliss further emphasized the valuable impact of JIPS’ honest broker role in negotiating data collection and analysis processes in politically sensitive contexts on the ground and was supportive of the Service’s innovative approach to tool development and data sharing through the PARK, the JET and the DART.
Maria Luisa Silva, Director of UNDP’s Geneva office, also spoke on the valuable role of profiling to inform developmental responses to forced displacement, and UNDP’s interest to collaborate with JIPS in other displacement contexts, particularly those linked to natural disasters and climate change. She stressed that the service JIPS provides contributes valuable data that allows for better continuity between the work of humanitarian and development actors, highlighting the recent example of Côte d’Ivoire.
After a presentation by the JIPS team on the evolution of the service and its future plans, the meeting concluded with a lively Q&A session in plenary. JIPS appreciated the opportunity to share an outline of the 2015-2017 strategy and progress made so far, and is grateful to those who participated in the event and discussions.
Read more about JIPS’ 2015-2017 strategy and about JIPS’ governance model.
