HLP: Guidance for Responding to Displacement in Urban Areas 2020

Context
The document is meant to provide an overview of the complexity of urban systems and guidance for UNHCR on how to proceed when developing programming and identification of cross-sectoral opportunities for collaboration during emergency and post-emergency contexts. The document builds on area-based approaches to help guide inclusive and cross-sectoral approaches to responding to the needs of displaced peoples. The guidance is based on the various UN Global Policy Frameworks.

Summary 
The document provides a guide to preparing for response in urban areas (p. 10), which includes a spatial understanding reference toolbox (p. 17) that summarizes other documents and case studies for spatial analysis and understanding urban themes. The thematic area section covers various urban issues related to displacement and cross-sectoral approaches to urban displacement, including HLP. The document also provides an additional thematic area reference toolbox (p. 45) and a Way Forward section (p. 51) that provides additional documents, handbooks, and suggestions to improve decision-making responding to urban displacement. For each urban thematic area discussed, key considerations under emergency and post-emergency are discussed. Thematic areas are categorized into either the Enabling Environment (such as services) or the Built Environment (such as infrastructure) (p. 19). Thematic areas include Policy, Legislation, and Governance (p. 19), Urban Economy and Finance (p. 25), Data for an Evidence-Based Response (p. 28); HLP (p. 30), Urban Basic Services (p. 37), and Social and Recreational Facilities (p. 41). In discussing HLP, the document states that HLP is important in protecting against forced eviction and ensuring housing rights and suggests that particular attention should be paid to HLP rights of women, children and vulnerable groups. In discussing HLP, the document focuses on the legal security of tenure, defined as the certainty that a person’s right to housing and land will be recognized by others and will be protected in the case of specific challenges and considers this integral to adequate housing. In protection of the right to house, land rights and the right to property (p. 30) is critical and the latter is protected under the UDHR. The HLP section contains a case study for a UNHCR Accommodation Scheme in Greece (p.33) and a Sustainable Human Statements program in Afghanistan that proves actions/approaches, challenges, and lessons learned.