It has now been some fi fteen years since the issue of internal displacement indelibly was placed on the international agenda and recognized as a legitimate matter of international concern. Since that time, awareness of the global crisis of internal displacement and of the plight of affected populations has grown. A normative framework for addressing the problem has been developed and its use is being widely promoted at the national, regional and international levels. International humanitarian, human rights and development agencies have become increasingly engaged with the internally displaced, both at the policy level and in the fi eld, and a UN offi ce has been established to coordinate their efforts and ensure an effective international response. In a sign of the wide recognition it has attained, the issue of internal displacement now features regularly in international discourse, and not only in human rights and humanitarian circles but also in the debates of the UN Security Council. Despite being fi rmly embedded in the international lexicon, however, there