The risks and reconstruction model for resettling displaced populations

Involuntary population displacements and resettlement entailed by development programs have reached a magnitude and frequency that,give these phenomena worldwide relevance and require policy-guided solutions. The author extracts the general trends and common characteristics revealed by a vast body of empirical data, to construct a theoretical model of displacement and reconstruction. The model captures the socioeconomic content of both segments of the process: forced displacement and reestablishment. It identifies the key risks and impoverishment processes in displacement as: (a) landlessness; (b) joblessness; (c) homelessness; (d) marginalization; (e) food insecurity; (f) loss of access to common property resources; (g) increased morbidity; and (h) community disarticulation. Conversely, the model suggests that reconstructing and improving the livelihood of those displaced require risk-reversals through explicit strategies backed up by adequate financing. Flawed approaches to reconstruction and the intrinsic limitations of cost-benefit analysis are discussed. The paper shows how the proposed model can be used by practitioners and researchers as a diagnostic tool, a predictive tool, a problem-resolution tool and a research-guidance tool. (C) 1997 World Bank. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.