ABSTRACT

This paper describes concisely a theoretical model of development-induced displacement and resettlement processes: the impoverishment risks and reconstruction (IRR) model. This model is a conceptual and methodological tool which performs several essential functions in support of analytical and operational development work. The main functions for which the model can be employed are:

• a predictive function, to anticipate the main impoverishment risks involved in forced displacement and resettlement;

• a diagnostic function, to help assess in the field the content and the intensity of each major risk, in the context of a given project;

• a planning and problem resolution function, to guide the design of counter-risk measures and their incorporation in resettlement planning, for either preventing or mitigating risks;

• a research function, to serve as methodology in the scholarly analysis of resettlement impacts and to guide monitoring and evaluation studies on resettlement processes.