Written submission to the International Development Committee inquiry: The FCDO’s approach to displaced people

Evidence submitted by ActionAid UK 

January 2025

1. About ActionAid  

1.1.            ActionAid is a global federation working with more than 41 million people living in more than 71 of the world’s poorest countries. We want to see a just, fair and sustainable world, in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality and to eradicate poverty, including by shifting power to local organisations and movements. Women are disproportionately impacted by disasters, conflicts and crises; that’s why we have a particular focus on women’s rights and cultivating women’s leadership in emergencies. 

1.2.            Our human rights-based approach aims to ensure that people are drivers of their own change and are able to claim the rights they are entitled to. We focus on women and girls because the denial of their rights is a grave injustice and one of the underlying causes of poverty worldwide. By working directly with communities, women’s movements, activists, groups and networks, social movements, and other allies, we aim to tackle the structural causes and consequences of poverty and injustice. 

1.3.            The inquiry submission refers to research and policy reports related to displaced people and the drivers of displacement as developed through the work of staff throughout the ActionAid Federation.

2. Summary and recommendations

2.1.            Displacement is driven by conflict, climate disasters and social inequalities. All of these drivers impact women and girls disproportionately, and the ensuing displacement has a particular gendered impact also.

2.2.            Women’s rights organisations across the world are taking action and demonstrating their expertise in supporting and advocating for change with communities who have been displaced, addressing food insecurity, menstrual hygiene, mental health and sexual violence response and promoting inclusive peace building efforts particularly the active role of women in peace and security.

2.3.            ActionAid research and experience shows that women’s rights programming are underfunded and even when funding is secured it is not flexible, sufficient or long-term[1]..

2.4.            The UK must take a more transformative approach to conflict and destabilisation, specifically a gender-transformative approach that addresses the root causes of conflict, in order to improve the FCDO’s strategy and approach to conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

2.5.            The UK must ringfence a dedicated budget for the implementation of the fifth National Action Plan (NAP) on Women Peace and Security, to demonstrate its commitment and responsibility as a penholder for WPS at the UN Security Council.

2.6.            The UK should provide long-term, multiyear and flexible funding which can be adapted to the needs of the displaced communities to local women’s rights organisations, and allow for different mechanisms for funding such as providing cash rather than bank transfers. This type of funding supports the development of comprehensive humanitarian peacebuilding programmes that can have a lasting impact and address the drivers of displacement

2.7.            The UK government must increase its funding for conflict prevention and peace building initiatives and efforts particularly to enhance role of women and girls in conflict prevention and peace building

2.8.            The UK government must ensure refuge to displaced women, children and men who seek asylum and safety in the UK. From our work responding to emergencies, we know that for many women and girls, seeking asylum is the only lifeline when fleeing crisis.

2.9.            Recognizing the complexities of displacement and the various factors at play, humanitarian responses & rehabilitation needs to device targeted and impactful mechanism that supports internally displaced people (IDPs) in rebuilding their lives after displacement. Build on the existing social networks, relationships, and community ties that can aid in recovery and integration for IDPs.

2.10.        The UK must utilise all diplomatic tools to stop conflict-related and forced displacement and apply pressure on states who are violating international humanitarian laws by forcibly displacing people, to adhere to international laws.

3. The impact of displacement on women and girls

3.1.            Displacement has a disproportionate impact on women and girls and marginalised and minority groups. Women, girls and all minoritised people experience a worsening of existing social inequalities when they are forcibly displaced and when communities are in a state of instability.

3.2.            ActionAid works in over 70 countries worldwide and works closely with many groups of displaced people. From our experience, we know that whether in conflict, humanitarian disaster or climate crisis, women are among the worst affected but also the first responders in affected communities.

3.3.            Women and girls who have been displaced are more likely to experience the economic instability related to loss of income and livelihoods. The burden of unequal unpaid care work placed on women, and especially younger girls, increases when families are displaced and when men die or leave the household[2]. This worsens levels of school enrolment for girls—boys are often prioritised for education[3]. Girls are also put at a higher risk of early and forced marriage as families marry their daughters in order to reduce the financial burden[4].

3.4.            Displaced women and girls also experience increased rates of sexual violence and discrimination[5]. Displacement caused by wars leads to a lack of privacy in shelters and displacement camps, depriving women of basic necessities and dignity. Displacement camps also do not allow for safe spaces for women to speak together and support each other. They  are often unable to receive services as during  working hours women need to stand in long queues for water and hot meals.

3.5.            The displacement caused by war causes humanitarian catastrophe inevitably coupled with a mental health crisis, as civilians of all genders are confronted with extreme loss, suffering, fear and inhumane living conditions, all leading to deep and lasting trauma. ActionAid staff working in many conflict contexts see how displaced women experience negative feelings and emotional distress, including stress, anxiety, restlessness, despair, intense fear and hopelessness[6].

3.6.            Extreme weather events such as drought, heat waves, floods and cyclones, and other effects of climate change such as rising sea levels, all can lead to climate-induced forced displacement[7]. It is common for men in rural areas to migrate to find employment or income, creating women-headed households which can have social stigma, greater risks of exploitation and increased care-related responsibilities. Women displaced due to climate change face many of the same issues of women displaced due to conflict. Once they have been forcibly displaced, they experience all the difficulties associated with the poor conditions of displacement camps[8].

4. The role of civil society

4.1.            Myanmar

4.1.1.      Almost 3 million people from Myanmar have been forcibly displaced following the military coup in 2021. According to population data estimates from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the proportion of women in IDP camps in Myanmar has increased from 27% of 430,000 displaced individuals in December 2021 to 51% of 1.35 million in December 2023[9]. This sharp increase highlights the growing difficulties that women face amid the ongoing conflict and displacement crisis, as they are subject to disproportionate risks such as gender-based violence, limited access to resources, and reduced opportunities for safety and justice.

4.1.2.      These challenges are further exacerbated by the military junta[10]‘Four Cuts’ policies which cut the flow of goods, information and services, depriving a large section of communities especially women of food, intelligence, money, and human resources[11]. Displaced women living in camps in Myanmar have flagged that increased ‘stress and frustrations of displacement’, ‘constrained spaces’ and lack of privacy have significantly contributed to higher rates of gender-based violence[12].

4.1.3.      Moreover, the nature of displacement often strips women of their social and community support systems, leaving them isolated and more likely to experience potential harassment, exploitation, and abuse. Limited access to justice and the absence of safe spaces further compounds the risks, as survivors of gender-based violence face significant barriers in reporting incidents or seeking help. As with increased gender-based violence, the coup in Myanmar has had a disproportionate impact on women’s and girls’ access to basic services such as healthcare and the justice system.

4.1.4.      The conflict in Myanmar has taken a severe toll on healthcare workers and facilities. Many have also highlighted difficulties in obtaining sanitary kits or contraception. Even where healthcare facilities are available, the absence of cost-sharing programs has made public services unaffordable.[13]

4.1.5.      These conditions highlight the urgent need for targeted interventions, including the establishment of safe spaces, access to justice, healthcare mechanisms, and psychosocial support services, to mitigate the risks faced by displaced women in Myanmar.

4.1.6.      Civil society, and in particular women’s rights organisations, work with displaced people to deliver some of the humanitarian support needed. For example, women’s rights organisations have provided displaced women with cash distributions and hygiene kits, as well a tailored support for pregnant women and newborn children. They have set up safe spaces and vocational skills training sessions for survivors of sexual violence, raising concerns that due to the displacement, there are no existing mechanisms to support women. One women’s organisation shared in ActionAid’s research: “There is no rule and law, and it is difficult to say who we should rely on to support women’s protection, because the structure in the community is destroyed, and so we do it.”[14]

4.1.7.      However, the same dynamics which are causing displacement, also impact the work of civil society. The ‘Four Cuts’ policy further endangers the staff of women’s rights organisation, constrains their ability to travel or communicate freely and restricts them from buying goods and transferring funds.

4.1.            Ethiopia

4.1.1.      According to the 2024 Humanitarian Needs Overview, 4.4 million IDPs are displaced across Ethiopia in both accessible and inaccessible locations, with this figure likely to rise unless the factors exacerbating the displacement are addressed.  The increase of conflict affects women and girls disproportionately and hence women and girls make up a significant proportion of IDPs.

4.1.2.      ActionAid’s policy report Leading the Way reported that “Displaced women often live in overcrowded camps with inadequate protection, making them vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and trafficking. The lack of sexual and reproductive health services in the camps leaves women and girls vulnerable to unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and complications related to childbirth, all of which are compounded by the overall scarcity of medical care. These conditions create a cycle of vulnerability, where the lack of basic necessities directly undermines the safety, health, and wellbeing of those most at risk.”[15]

4.1.3.      ActionAid Ethiopia and Ethiopian women’s rights organisations have strived to fill the gaps left by the short-term international response by mobilising their own resources to deliver humanitarian support, including psychosocial support. These groups also led a needs assessment of women including in hard-to-reach areas, ensuring that all communities are engaged. ActionAid itself has supported over 800,000 people in Ethiopia with urgent humanitarian needs including protection, water sanitation, food, livelihood support, protections and hygiene (WASH), medical and psychosocial support, income-generating activities and cash assistance[16].

4.1.4.      ActionAid also supported displaced people and host communities to recover their livelihood mechanisms. Our work is guided by our signature where women and young people lead the entire response mechanism, transparency and accountability, protection and shifting the power to local communities. Our work is also guided by the Grand Bargain commitments where we work with national and local partners in responding to the various crises.

4.2.            Uganda

4.2.1.      The conflict in Uganda led to 1.5 million people displaced internally, with many still living in displacement camps[17], where sexual violence rates are high. The danger of conflict-related violence when travelling has hindered women from accessing work and from accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare. Displacement and the subsequent impacts have led to 63 per cent of people in Northern Uganda to be completely dependent on ODA.

4.2.2.      Women’s rights organisations in Uganda have responded by initiating peacebuilding and mediation process—despite formal processes not having started. They supported communities through awareness building, reintegration programmes and community reconciliation processes. This work addresses the main driver of the displacement—conflict. Women’s and youth organisations also set up village saving and loan associations where members could support each other in their businesses and farming, and provide loans where possible. This addresses the economic impact of the displacement, necessary for longer term and sustainable development.

4.3.            Gaza

4.3.1.      The ongoing occupation and siege of Gaza by the Israeli state and the latest military bombardment waged against Gaza which started in October 2023 and lasted for 15 months, has led to 1.9 million people internally displaced within Gaza—constituting 90% of the population[18]. Almost all of these displaced people are experiencing or projected to face high levels of food insecurity. One of the most painful things for women in Gaza to endure is the repeated displacement which has turned their lives into hell. With nine out of ten people in Gaza displaced, most women and girls now found themselves living in tents or makeshift shelters constructed from curtains, sheets or any fabric they can find, which offer little to no protection from the winter cold or rain.

4.3.2.      The successive evacuation orders that were given to residents of Gaza have forced them into ever smaller areas of land and overcrowded shelters with poor infrastructure lacking good sanitation systems. Women and girls’ lack  privacy and, at the same time, face increased risk of harassment, abuse and violence. It  has become a monthly struggle for women of Gaza to manage their periods when they have no period products, no soap, limited or no water, and using the toilet or shower can involve hours of queueing. The lack of water has left some women unable to shower for weeks, while many have resorted to cutting their hair as it is so difficult to keep it clean—just one of the painful tactics to cope with the harsh conditions that women are having to employ. Keeping themselves and their living spaces clean is impossible and contagious skin diseases and pneumonia are spreading rapidly.

4.3.3.      The obstruction of humanitarian supplies entering to Gaza and destruction of the infrastructure of food system has worsened the hunger crisis. The amount of humanitarian relief entering the territory was dangerously low during the peak of the conflict: in October 2024 just 37 trucks went into Gaza on average per day, the lowest level yet in 2024[19]. This  caused shortage of food; bakeries and kitchens were forced to close. In a rare and concerning move, the Famine Review Committee issued an alert warning that starvation and malnutrition were ‘rapidly increasing’ in the north and said the threshold for famine may have already been crossed[20]. Since the announcement of the ceasefire, more trucks have been allowed into Gaza but these are not sufficient to cover the urgent need.

4.3.4.      Due to near collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system in Gaza, pregnant women have severely been impacted, with 180 women are giving birth in Gaza every day and women undergoing caesarean sections without anaesthesia, as anaesthetics remain one of the prohibited medical supplies for entry into Gaza[21]. ActionAid staff and partners in Gaza have reported an increase in miscarriages as a result of malnutrition and stress of constant danger, with one hospital in Gaza reporting having a 300% increase in miscarriage rate.  Displaced Palestinian women cannot often access healthcare and are forced to give birth in dangerous and unsafe conditions, such as overcrowded shelters and on streets amid rubbles.

4.3.5.      ActionAid’s partners in the occupied Palestinian territory are actively responding on the ground through food distribution, menstrual hygiene kits, cash assistance for women survivors of gender-based violence, health and medical care and much more. ActionAid and many other civil society organisations have worked together to establish displacement camps, where ActionAid has provided mental health and psychosocial support for displaced people.

4.3.6.      This work has proved incredibly difficult however as most supplies necessary for this humanitarian intervention are tightly controlled at the border by the Israeli state. Gaza has become the deadliest place in the world for aid workers[22], with hundreds of humanitarian staff killed by Israeli military attacks since October 2023. Therefore, the important work undertaken by civil society is extremely restricted.

5. Drivers of displacement and the role of the UK

5.1.            Conflict

5.1.1.      The drivers of displacement include conflict and climate. The root causes of conflict include social inequalities including gender inequality, colonial legacies, economic instability and climate disasters. Cyclically outbreaks of conflict leads to further inequality and instability. Therefore, it is essential to address the root causes of conflict as a driver of displacement, which serves to address the issues caused by displacement. 

5.1.2.      Despite these further effects from conflict, instability and poverty, the cuts to Official Development Assistance (ODA) have not been fully reversed which has had a devastating impact on displaced women and girls. This demonstrates a siloed and short-sighted approach as the cuts will also worsen these drivers.

5.1.3.      Progress on these drivers of displacement will not be possible without the FCDO taking a holistic and gender-sensitive approach to conflict. The UK’s fifth National Action Plan (NAP) on Women Peace and Security (WPS)[23] lays out a roadmap to achieve this. As the penholder for WPS at the UN Security Council, the UK has a particular responsibility to champion and robustly implement this agenda. However, there is no dedicated budget for the implementation of the NAP which does not reflect the importance of these core drivers of displacement.

5.1.4.      In 2022, 28.9% of overall ODA was spent within the UK on providing assistance to refugees and asylum seekers[24]. These costs cover UK housing, education, healthcare and administrative costs[25]. Rather than using this ODA to address poverty and inequality or to alleviate the challenges faced by people living in displacement camps in ODA-eligible countries, the UK has allocated £3.69 billion from an already-shrinking ODA budget to costs within their borders and to plug the gaps in Home Office spending. Refugees and asylum seekers served by this funding, primarily from Ukraine and Afghanistan, should absolutely receive support and funding from the UK—like all refugees and asylum seekers—but this should not be provided from a shrinking ODA budget.

5.1.5.      The FCDO does also work within displacement camps and with displaced people not in ‘donor countries’, including the camps of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar (currently displaced in Bangladesh) and in Sudan where 8.8 million people have been displaced[26]. However, the FCDO’s funding is routed through multilateral agencies and international organisations.

5.1.6.      Local organisations, in particular women’s rights organisations, have a deeper understanding of what their whole community needs in humanitarian emergencies, as women hold more caring responsibilities and are integrated in their communities. As discussed in this submission, local women’s rights organisations are best placed to respond to displacement but are under-resourced, under-valued and under-represented in decision-making spaces.

5.1.7.      For example, the UK is a signatory to the Grand Bargain 2.0, which commits the UK to engaging with local civil society organisations, in particular women’s rights organisations and women-led organisations in their humanitarian responses, with a 25% target for funds being shared with local actors. In 2021, only 0.2% of UK humanitarian ODA (£14.8m) went to frontline women’s rights organisations and movements.

5.1.8.      The UK must provide long-term, multiyear and flexible funding which can be adapted to the needs of the displaced communities, and allow for different mechanisms for funding such as providing cash rather than bank transfers. This type of funding supports the development of comprehensive humanitarian peacebuilding programmes that can have a lasting impact and address the drivers of displacement.

5.1.9.      It is also key to note that providing funding and support to local women’s rights organisations will not solve all the issues related to and causing forced displacement. For example, in Gaza, political action and a permanent ceasefire is needed. Other forms of support to displaced people are short-term and will be undone by further Israeli military action, and if this restarts, so will the displacement and knock-on effects. Now that a temporary ceasefire agreement was reached and entered into effect on 19th Jan 2025, all border crossings need to be opened to allow quick delivery of humanitarian aid and reconstruction supplies to support displaced people to return to their homes. The UK must work with international partners to press Israeli authorities to lift the long-term blockade of humanitarian supplies.

5.2.            Climate

5.2.1.      Climate-induced displacement is recognised as a form of loss and damage, particularly impacting communities in the global majority. Our research shows that women and girls are at heightened risk and are experiencing the harshest impacts of climate induced displacement[27]. Women often face limited access to resources, reduced mobility, and disproportionate exposure to risks such as gender-based violence in displacement and conflict settings. The gendered impacts of climate displacement are compounded by pre-existing social inequalities and a lack of gender-responsive policies in both humanitarian aid and climate adaptation frameworks.

5.2.2.      Women, for example, bear the brunt of the economic and social disruptions that accompany displacement, from the loss of livelihoods to the erosion of traditional knowledge systems. A climate-humanitarian nexus approach is essential, recognising that climate-induced displacement cannot be addressed in isolation but must be integrated into broader humanitarian, development, and climate action policies. This intersectionality requires a focus on building resilience through inclusive policies that prioritise the needs of the most affected, particularly women and girls.

5.2.3.      The UK government has previously pledged £11.6 billion to international climate finance to support initiatives such as the Loss and Damage Fund. However, at COP29, the UK's failure to advocate for ambitious funding to address the scale of loss and damage was deeply disappointing, particularly to stakeholders from climate-impacted nations. This shortfall highlights the urgent need for the UK government to align its rhetoric with action, ensuring financial contributions are additional, grant-based, and accessible to frontline communities, especially women-led organisations tackling climate-induced displacement. As highlighted in the Integrated Review 2023 and the UK’s commitments under the Grand Bargain 2.0, achieving meaningful outcomes necessitates support for locally driven initiatives and the integration of a gender-responsive approach.

5.2.4.      In the lead-up to COP30, the UK must prioritise long-term, multi-year funding solutions that address loss and damage as a structural challenge rather than as an emergency issue. This includes advocating for the operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund with clear gender and equity strategies to ensure finance reaches women and girls in fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS). Such measures should emphasise collaboration with local women's rights organisations to drive community-led resilience initiatives. The UK’s actions must not only reflect its historical responsibility as a major emitter but also embody a commitment to climate justice by addressing the intersecting challenges of displacement, gender inequality, and climate impacts at the scale required to redress global climate injustices.

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