Involuntary resettlement
Involuntary resettlement concerns people who lose homes, livelihoods or access to resources through project land acquisition or restrictions they cannot refuse. It includes physical displacement, such as moving from a dwelling, and economic displacement, such as losing productive land, a business location or access to shared resources. A household may experience both. Land acquisition is the project action; displacement describes its consequences. IFC PS5
A payment for land can leave important losses unresolved. A farmer may retain most of a holding but lose its irrigation intake. A tenant may lose accommodation without receiving the owner's land payment. A trader may move into a better building and lose access to customers. Resettlement planning needs to identify these relationships early enough to avoid unnecessary displacement and make recovery feasible.
The practical question is whether each important loss has an identified person or group, a suitable remedy, a funded delivery arrangement and an outcome that can be checked. Compensation, relocation and livelihood restoration are connected parts of that task. An inventory of assets cannot answer it alone.
Explore the section
- Resettlement risk and safeguard decisions explains applicability, alternatives, displacement mechanisms and the decisions a financier needs to make when information or implementation capacity is weak.
- Baseline evidence and impact analysis connects the census, asset inventory, livelihood studies and spatial assessment to eligibility, restoration and follow-up.
- Entitlements and livelihood restoration examines replacement cost, tenants and informal users, government responsibilities, feasible livelihood options and the full program budget.
- Implementation and recovery develops readiness checks, grievance handling, monitoring, corrective action and evidence of completion.
- Evaluating plans and accountability cases distinguishes planning commitments, audit findings, complaints and mediated agreements, using historical project records.
- References and source archives provides the bibliography, public publisher endpoints and retained source copies for authenticated readers.
Choose a plan for the impacts
| Situation | Planning task |
|---|---|
| People must move and may also lose livelihoods | A resettlement action plan, including housing, tenure, relocation, transition and restoration measures |
| People lose livelihoods without having to move | A livelihood restoration plan or the economic-displacement instrument required by the applicable framework |
| Locations or subprojects are not yet defined | A framework that establishes rules and resources for later impact assessment and location-specific plans |
| Temporary occupation or an access restriction interrupts use | Defined access, compensation, transition, reinstatement and verification arrangements |
| Land was acquired before the present financing | A documented review of the acquisition history, remaining impacts and any corrective measures required |
Instrument names and requirements vary by financier. The financing framework and agreement, national procedures and actual impact mechanism determine what is needed. A signed land sale does not settle the position of tenants, workers or other users who were not parties to it. World Bank ESS5 guidance
Keep the applicable policy in view
IFC's 2012 PS5 remains distinct from its 2023 good practice handbook. ADB's Environmental and Social Framework became effective on 1 January 2026, with transition provisions retaining the 2009 Safeguard Policy Statement for earlier approvals and concept notes. DFC also distinguishes its April 2024 policy from the July 2020 policy applicable under its transition arrangements. Record the governing edition for each operation. IFC handbook, ADB transition, DFC transition
The discussion is written for social practitioners, project teams and development financiers. Worked numbers and proposed review controls are teaching examples. Historical project records retain their dates and scope; a plan's promises and an accountability process's closure do not, by themselves, establish household recovery.
Connect the assessment
Resettlement draws on the wider social impact assessment, baseline survey and spatial analysis. Indigenous Peoples and collective land relationships may also engage the relevant free prior and informed consent requirements. The Nepal resettlement cost discussion shows how document editions, denominators and cost definitions affect comparison.