Two years ago, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had much to be proud of. Not only was it celebrating its 65th birthday — it was commemorating the fact that it had, since its inception in 1954, helped some 50 million displaced persons have a second chance. Yet fast-forward to today and the refugee agency has reported that the world is ‘home’ to 65.6 million displaced. Meaning that the challenges facing us are only increasing. According to the UN, the bulk of the problem of displacement needs to be managed within national borders insofar as about 40 million are internally displaced. Nonetheless, the crises that have contributed to these displacements remain international in scope given that their historical roots lie in colonial conquests of Asian, African and Latin American territories. Even though the world has moved past colonisation of the kind associated with the United Kingdom and Imperial France of 19th centuries, much of the crises set off by colonial administrations continue to reverberate in present-day rivalries among multiple local factions vying for political power in places like Colombia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and, most recently, South Sudan — which account for most of the world’s internally displaced persons (IDPs). Internationally-recognised governments remain weak in these territories and opponents resort to violent tactics with military and economic support from foreign powers. That this is happening in a day and age when the strengthening of democratic institutions has been accepted as the norm for statecraft speaks volumes for the work still needed to be done by the global community when it comes to attaining a durable solution to the displacement challenge. Needless to say, the UNHCR alone won’t be able to deal with this mammoth undertaking. It will require a more concerted effort at the heart of which will have to be a much more powerful UN General Assembly. Let us recall that the UN Security Council with its veto power to the five permanent member states was an institution meant for a post-WW II environment. For the UN to become a truly democratic union of states, it will have to take away powers vested in this Council in favour of empowering the General Assembly instead. While this is an uphill struggle requiring ambitious decision making commitments — we remind the international community that the humanitarian challenge facing it is no less monumental. * Published in Daily Times, June 21st, 2017.