Forced migration and professionalism

The complexity of forced migration calls for significant expertise with reg ard to prevention, responses and solutions. This article describes efforts since the early 1980s to professionalize the field. Professional developmen t requires, at a minimum, that three things be in place: training; standard s to govern professional competence; and a process for evaluation and impro vement. professional development must take into account the increasing comp lexity of humanitarian crises; changing notions of sovereignty that permit new solutions; changing mandates and responsibilities of organizations conc erned with forced migration; and technological and communications innovatio ns that enable new approaches to forced migration and professional training .