Resettlement Planning: Reversing Displacement Impacts of Development Projects

Abstract

People, when displaced, often lose almost everything, from livelihoods to kinship ties, even their identity. Resettlement policies now require that a resettlement action plan (RAP) be prepared to rebuild their shattered lives. This chapter describes the basic steps involved in preparing a resettlement action plan, which is based on an assessment of a project’s social impacts. The basic measures spelt out in the resettlement plan to address negative project impacts include relocation, compensation, measures to at least restore living standards, an adequately equipped implementation agency, provision of budget enough for implementing all planned activities, a responsive and easily accessible grievance redress mechanism, and a monitoring and evaluation system essential to tracking the progress of resettlement plan implementation, especially to seeing whether or not it is successful in rebuilding livelihoods of those displaced by development projects – a most desirable but often the most elusive resettlement objective.