Country: World Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Please refer to the attached file. Purpose This document has been prepared by UNHCR to clarify key settlement related terms and approaches used in displacement contexts. It explains how globally recognized terminology related to spaces where forcibly displaced people settle is understood and applied in UNHCR operations, and outlines settlement-related approaches used by partners, including their applicability, complementarities, and limitations. In addition, it offers guidance on where the use of each approach is recommended- and where it is not. Over time, several terms have been used, sometimes inconsistently, leading to confusion as approaches to settlements for forcibly displaced people have evolved. This guidance therefore does not seek to redefine existing sectoral terminology, but to offer clarity on how globally recognized definitions are understood and applied within UNHCR’s operational context, and how they align with - or differ from - terminology used by partners such as UN-Habitat and the World Bank. In practice, how these terms are applied may have diverse nuances, and may vary based on operational realities and translations in different languages. This document does not replace the Emergency Handbook, where additional emergency-specific typologies are included but not covered here. UN-Habitat is referenced as the UN’s mandated lead agency on Human Settlements0F1 and a key partner with UNHCR on settlement analysis and spatial planning, while the World Bank’s Urban Practice is included for Its “people-in-place” and broader urban development frameworks that compliment UNHCR’s settlement planning work. Beyond clarifying terminology, the document aims to encourage a shift in mindset toward more coherent, integrated, people-centered, and forward-looking approaches in the way settlement planning is understood and practiced in displacement contexts. The document is intended for UNHCR staff, government counterparts, partners, and other practitioners involved in settlement planning, coordination, programming, and policy dialogue. For brevity, “forcibly displaced people” refers collectively to asylum-seekers, refugees, IDPs, and stateless persons.
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