Internal displacement affects the lives of displaced people, their host communities and those they leave behind in many ways. We identified seven dimensions that need to be considered - health, livelihoods, education, housing and infrastructure, security, the environment and social life. This report presents the results of a systematic review of nearly 1,000 publications on the impacts of internal displacement in each of these dimensions.

Our analysis highlighted recurring effects that must be assessed more systematically, but also knowledge gaps where more research is needed. It confirmed the variety and intensity of internal displacement’s repercussions and showed how they all relate to each other.

As part of IDMC’s research programme on the economic impacts of internal displacement, we will build upon this work to develop new tools to assess these impacts’ consequences on the economy at the individual, community and national levels.