ABSTRACT
Decades of research on project-induced displacement and resettlement (PIDR) and development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) has shown that it has frequently resulted in the impoverishment of affected individuals and communities.1 The World Bank has estimated that, since the 1990s, about 10 million people annually have been displaced by large-scale projects (e.g. dams, mines and other infrastructure).2 The neglect or lack of national and international standards has often led to the forced eviction of people from their living spaces, typically without fair compensation or possibilities for livelihood restoration.3 Michael Cernea was among the first to consider how the social risks of project-induced displacement contribute to the impoverishment of people. He developed a conceptual model, the Impoverishment Risks and Reconstruction Model for Resettling Displaced Populations (IRR).4 The risks he identified include: landlessness; homelessness; joblessness; marginalisation, especially of vulnerable groups (displacement has a disproportional negative effect on the elderly, women and children); increased food insecurity; increased morbidity and mortality; loss of access to common property and loss of access
1 Michael Cernea, ‘Risks, Safeguards and Reconstruction: A Model for Population Displacement and Resettlement’ (1997) Economic and Political Weekly 3659-3678; Michael Cernea and Christopher McDowell (eds), Risks and Reconstruction. Experiences of Resettlers and Refugees (World Bank 2000).
