December 19, 2008, Washington, DC: The Advocacy Project joined 21 other organizations today in signing a statement urging the incoming Obama administration to take a more proactive approach to the problems of internally displaced people around the world.

According to the statement, there are an estimated 26 million people internally displaced by conflict who are in need of international attention, more than double the number of refugees. But the global response has been weak, characterized by incomplete access to the displaced, lack of clarity as to responsibilities, and funding that falls short of what is required.

The statement offers policy recommendations for the United States to better coordinate its response to the crisis and become a stronger advocate for internally displaced people. Among its recommendations, it urges the new administration to establish a position at the National Security Council devoted to integrating and coordinating the overall U.S. response to displacement, and to make displacement a priority issue for the new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

The statement was also endorsed by the American Refugee Committee, Church World Service, the Immigration and Refugee Program, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Human Rights Watch, IDP Action, International Catholic Migration Commission, International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Invisible Children, the Jesuit Refugee Service, LIFE for Relief and Development, Lutheran World Relief, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Mercy Corps, PACT, Refugees International, Relief International, Resolve Uganda, Survivor Corps, and the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children.