About the IDP Voices Project

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) worked with Panos London's Oral Testimony Programme to develop the methodology for the IDP Voices project. Their approach aims to show the complexity of individualexperiences, to bring home the realities of everyday life, reveal hidden spheres of experiences and hidden connections, and deepen understanding of the past. All this together allows the unexpected to emerge.

While the stories and voices are valuable in themselves to convey the devastating impact of displacement on the lives and well-being of the displaced, their families and their communities, they also complement the more conventional base-line surveys and needs assessments routinely carried out by humanitarian and development organisations. Life stories enable planners and policymakers to more fully appreciate the complex and varied impacts of internal displacement and identify new ways to respond.


The value to the narrator

Several narrators stated that they didn’t talk much to other people about these deep experiences due to fear and lack of trust, so this opportunity to be listened to without being judged is considered to be of great value. “Having the opportunity to tell your life story can be therapeutic; it can be a restoring and empowering experience,” said one life story interviewer.

This may be the first time that the narrator has had the chance to tell their story. Some have acknowledged that it was difficult to recount painful experiences. However, most narrators also say that they felt relieved or even happy and privileged to be able to tell their life story to an attentive and sensitive listener, and that their story was worth listening to, and was of enormous importance.

The interviewers are carefully selected among communities affected by conflict and displacement. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre provided its support to these local people and organisations by enabling them to apply life story and oral testimony methodologies to tell their stories.


Back to top“Hidden histories”

The goal is to capture the daily, real live of people directly affected by displacement, and their views and values. These “hidden histories” help us deepen our understanding of internal displacement. It is important to see the phenomenon of displacement within a personal context. By looking not only at the displacement, but at the entire cycle of someone’s life, a deeper understanding may arise of the impact of displacement. How was their childhood? What important experiences took place before they were forced from their home? What event triggered the displacement? Direct violence, threats, fear? Who took the decision to leave?

Many people describe how they developed individual coping mechanisms and survival strategies. How do they handle their new situation? What have they learned? What is the current situation? How do they feel and what are they longing for? Through the stories you will better grasp what displacement really is about.


Back to topWhat others think about IDP Voices

Distant voices, displaced lives
Blogged by Mark Snelling on Reuters AlertNet

When the Displaced Speak for Themselves
Blogged by Camilla Olson on WorldBridge: Refugees International's Blog
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