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Displaced by development
Gender, rights and ‘risks of impoverishment’
Forced displacement can lead to new social and economic benefits in
some cases. Largely, however, it is a traumatic event that leads to a
decline in the standard of living and a diminished sense of wellbeing
for those displaced. How does current resettlement research deal with
the problems of vulnerable groups in displacement processes?
Every year about ten million people across the globe are forcibly displaced
due to infrastructure projects such as dams, mines and roads. The majority
of displaced people are from poor and marginalised communities and among
them, women are particularly vulnerable.
As recent research conducted by the Institute of Development Studies
on gender and forced displacement indicates, several male biases underline
the design and implementation of resettlement and rehabilitation policies
and programmes. For instance, compensation is usually directed to men,
and women are rarely involved in decision-making and implementation processes
of resettlement schemes. Thus, resettlement programmes often make worse
gender inequalities among displaced people.
The path-breaking Impoverishment Risks and Reconstruction (IRR) model,
developed by World Bank sociologist Michael Cernea, has been vital in
showing how displacement risks, when ignored, evolve into processes of
physical, social and economic exclusion, which results in a broad range
of impoverishment risks. The IRR model refers to the risks encountered
by sub-groups within a community (such as the landless and women) who
suffer specific losses that might not be predicted by policy-makers and
planners. Consequently, they suffer a more severe impact.
Indeed, as research among displaced women and men of the Sardar Sarovar
dam in India shows, women largely have rights and control over resources
in customary law or informal arrangements. For example, in the forest
villages along the banks of the Narmada River, women earned an independent
source of income from the sale of minor forest produce. But in Gujarat,
the resettlement programme neither grasped this loss nor compensated them
for it. As a result, women’s economic dependence on men increased
upon resettlement.
The IRR model, by explicitly proposing eight risks, spells out how impoverishment
occurs through displacement. More importantly, it highlights measures
that need to be taken to diminish risks and reconstruct livelihoods. The
model intends to redress the inequities of forced displacement and achieve
resettlement based on the principle of equity. But the research findings
suggest it does not go far enough in teasing out the dynamics of social
differentiation among resettled populations, especially with respect to
the reconstruction phase.
For example, it is argued that the risk of landlessness can be eliminated
through land-based relocation schemes. But the elimination of risks for
one group may increase the vulnerability and risks of another group. The
resettlement package in Gujarat correctly endows major sons (over 18 years
of age) with five acres of land. But major daughters receive nothing and
married women face growing insecurity. Conflicts over land have also intensified,
given the struggle for survival due to the poor quality of the land endowed
and the absence of the forest and other common property resources to meet
basic subsistence needs. Thus while sons may welcome being considered
beneficiaries of the compensation package, many women bear greater risk.
Based on the research findings, it is recommended that:
- Agencies involved in resettlement activities need to be committed
to gender justice in displacement and resettlement processes. Women
and men should be considered co-beneficiaries of compensation packages
and at times independent rights may need to be awarded to some women.
- In order to address inequities within communities, the IRR model
may need to advocate explicit partisan interventions for vulnerable
groups within displaced communities. It may also need to develop mechanisms
whereby displaced people can provide their own definitions of loss,
impoverishment and development and become respected stakeholders in
the displacement and planning process.
- Displacement research, policy and practice should not merely focus
on the risks and impact of displacement. Instead there is a need to
develop institutional mechanisms that will protect and strengthen the
rights of displaced women and men, including the right to information,
shelter, development and even the right to veto such projects.
Lyla Mehta
Institute of Development Studies
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9RE
UK
T +44 (0)1273 878736
l.mehta@ids.ac.uk
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