Refugee operations and environmental management: a handbook of selected lessons learned in the field

Refugee and relief agencies should aim to prevent, mitigate and rehabilitate negative refugeerelated impacts on the environment. Such a commitment requires the integration, to the greatest extent possible, of sound environmental management practices into all phases of refugee operations. Best practices need to be promoted and applied at the field level, particularly in project planning, implementation, management and monitoring. Environmental issues also need to be taken into account in training sessions, public awareness and information programmes, and fundraising events. These objectives are at the core of UNHCR''s own environmental strategies. This document is intended to serve as a Sourcebook - a compilation of selected environmental practices and lessons learned from past refugee operations. It is not exhaustive. Based on a series of case studies from various refugee operations in 10 different countries in Africa and South Asia, this Sourcebook is an output of the TSEMPRAA (Towards Sustainable Environmental Management Practices in Refugee-Affected Areas) activity carried out in 1997-1998, with the support of the governments of Japan, the Netherlands and the United States.