ID: 2005
Presenting Author: Julia Bell
Session: 629 - Post-Resettlement Realities: Trust, Housing, and Livelihoods Reconsidered
Status: pending
Premature withdrawal of transitional support compounds post-resettlement stresses from unforeseen living expenses. This paper examines the impact and contributes to work on integrating psychosocial co
In project-induced resettlement, transitional support is intended to offer displaced individuals a degree of stability as they adapt to new living conditions and restore their livelihoods. International standards do not prescribe a fixed duration for this support, but it is considered a temporary measure based on an estimate of the time needed for recovery. The standards recommend the withdrawal of transitional support be subject to displaced persons readiness, but in practice it is often premature and shaped by project-related constraints.
A resettlement case in South Africa demonstrates how prematurely shifting the financial burden of adaptation onto displaced individuals can undermine the recovery process. Labour tenants were relocated from a farm to a peri-urban area where they acquired ownership of their homes through the resettlement process. This introduced a new financial obligation of municipal taxes and transitional support was provided to cover this cost for a set period. When the support was withdrawn, many were concerned about their capacity to manage the new costs of living as they relied on social grants and their livelihoods were not restored. They reflected that life on the farm despite lacking formal tenure was better as they did not face the pressures associated with new living costs that they were ill-equipped to meet.
Drawing on this case, this paper explores how inadequate preparation for the financial obligations associated with post-resettlement life can foster a longing for pre-resettlement life and undermine recovery.
Social Scientist working on social impact research and advising clients on social performance imperatives in the mining, energy and infrastructure development sectors in South Africa and the African c