A High-Level Panel Highlights Enhanced Access to Livelihoods, Services, and Community Dialogue as Foundations for Durable Solutions and Stability in Ethiopia

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) convened a high-level federal panel discussion in Addis Ababa to advance dialogue on livelihoods, social cohesion, peacebuilding and durable solutions for displacement-affected communities in Ethiopia. 

The event, titled “From Displacement to Self-Reliance: Economic Inclusion and Social Cohesion as Pathways to  Durable Solutions,” brought together the federal government, including the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs, Government Representatives from Oromia and Somali regional states, United Nations agencies, development partners and durable solutions actors to discuss practical ways to strengthen long-term responses to internal displacement. 

As Ethiopia continues to advance government-led approaches to internal displacement, the event focused on how access to livelihoods, equitable service delivery and community-based dialogue can help address drivers of displacement, support peaceful coexistence and create the conditions for voluntary, safe and sustainable solutions. 

In this context, the event highlighted the Government of Ethiopia’s commitment to addressing internal displacement in line with the AU Kampala Convention and the Global Solutions Agenda. It also examined how durable solutions can be advanced through the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus, shifting beyond emergency assistance toward prevention, recovery, and long-term resilience. 

Participants exchanged views on emerging governance structures, financing frameworks and coordinated interventions that can support displaced populations and host communities, particularly in the Oromia and Somali Regions. 

The dialogue strengthened commitment to step up collaboration among government, the United Nations, international partners, NGOs, and civil society organizations. It also helped build consensus on priority actions to advance livelihoods and social cohesion, contributing to coordinated, long-term solutions that promote peace, stability and self-reliance for displaced populations and host communities. 

“Achieving Durable Solutions requires embedding displacement within national planning, budgeting and financing. Addressing internal displacement cannot remain as stand-alone humanitarian initiatives; they must be integrated into broader development strategies and implemented through coordinated, area-based approaches under strong government leadership. This enables all stakeholders to align investments, reduce humanitarian needs and strengthen resilience over the long term,” says Ms. Abibatou Wane, IOM Chief of Mission to Ethiopia. “Our shared responsibility is to move beyond responding to crises and toward delivering solutions that are nationally led, locally owned and enabled through strong partnerships. Individuals and families that are impacted by displacement are not only beneficiaries of assistance: they are partners in recovery, contributors to development and agents of resilience,” she adds. 

The event was organized within the framework of the joint project “Strengthening Resilience of Disaster Affected Communities through Durable Solutions in Oromia and Somali Regions of Ethiopia,” co-implemented by IOM, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and UN-Habitat, and co-funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).