Global Report on Internal Displacement 2025

Regional Overviews
 
The Americas Spotlight: Brazil
The southern state of Rio Grande do Sul experienced above-average rains between the end of April and mid-May 2024, inundating an area the size of the United Kingdom and triggering around 775,000 displacements. More than three-quarters took place in the metropolitan area of the state’s capital of Porto Alegre, home to 4.3 million people and located at the intersection of several major rivers.The floods triggered more movements than reported countrywide in 2023, pushing disaster displacement figures to their highest on for Brazil and underscoring the need to reduce people’s exposure and vulnerability to disasters.

Evidence suggests climate change and insufficient infrastructure development and retrofitting made the event twice as likely, and contributed to its scale and severity.Widespread damages were reported and basic services and communication networks were disrupted, with 478 of the state’s 497 municipalities affected. The state government declared a public calamity on 6 May and called on federal authorities and international aid agencies to provide further support to those affected, including those whose homes had been damaged or destroyed. Community-led responses were also key, as citizens organised rescue teams to support firefighters and civil defence forces.

The state authorities established temporary accommodation in sport, cultural and educational facilities, and offered cash transfers to families whose homes had been flooded. Authorities at all government levels collaborated to offer further social assistance, including with rental costs and the purchase homes for those displaced, which helped reduce the number of people in shelters. The losses and damages incurred led to tens of thousands of families losing their income and savings.

The floods highlighted the disproportionate vulnerability of some groups and the differentiated impacts of displacement. A geospatial study showed that the areas worse affected by the floods were inhabited by poorer residents. Black and indigenous communities were also forced to flee at higher rates than the general population. Some indigenous groups refused to evacuate from record areas at imminent risk of flooding from fear of losing their land. About 41,000 refugees and other people in need of international protection who had been relocated from northern Brazil to Rio Grande do Sul were displaced again.

As the floodwaters began to recede in Porto Alegre in June, displaced people were able to return and the number of IDPs decreased, but data collection also stopped, leaving a significant gap for the rest of the year that impeded understanding of the duration of displacement and the long-term challenges that those still displaced faced. The last data available from the government, which dates back to 24 June 2024, indicated 389,000 people were still living in displacement.

Policy and Data
Brazil’s approach to disaster risk management shifted significantly in 2011 when new norms, policies and mechanisms were introduced to guide and coordinate disaster risk reduction, prevention and response. Congress also enshrined a National Protection and Civil Defence Policy into law in 2012. The government is updating the national adaptation plan for 2024-2035, which is much needed given that climate models suggest average precipitation will continue to increase, particularly in the south.

The Rio Grande do Sul disaster brought valuable lessons and revealed gaps in implementation. Significant progress was made in the South region in mapping flood-prone areas at the municipality level and identifying “areas of permanent preservation” to reduce flood damage, but unregulated housing and agricultural development continued to play a role in driving flood displacement risk.359 The lack of maintenance of dikes and dams around Porto Alegre intended to control water levels also contributed to the extent of the disaster.  

After the floods, the federal government set up a secretariat to support the reconstruction of Rio Grande do Sul and coordinate recovery efforts. The state authorities established a Reconstruction, Adaptation and Climate Resilience Programme and a Plan for Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Development.Several bills touching on disaster displacement were also submitted to Congress. These are still pending discussion and approval, but they reflect the issue being acknowledged as a policy priority in Brazil. The need to strengthen contingency planning and coordination to sustainably reduce disaster and displacement risk has also been highlighted.

Having timely, disaggregated and interoperable data to support policy development and implementation will be key. Steps have been made in this sense, notably through the Integrated Disaster of Information System (S2ID), which has improved the coordination, transparency and accessibility of national data collection on disaster impacts. 

Data on disaster displacement is still hard to come by, however, and estimates are calculated using housing destruction as a proxy measure. The availability of data disaggregated by sex, age and other characteristics is also limited, hindering understanding of movement patterns, the duration of displacement and its differentiated impacts on specific population groups. The development of displacement-specific indicators as part of S2ID could fully exploit the system’s potential and inform policies and actions to prevent, respond to and resolve displacement.

Harmonising such data with existing systems, including the Registry and Vulnerability Index of Families (IVCAD), would help to better understand the intersecting vulnerabilities brought on by disaster displacement, which in turn would help to prioritise support for the most vulnerable communities.

Global Report on Internal Displacement 2025. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Norwegian Refugee Council. Geneva, Switzerland.