 When populations flee their homes, within or across international borders, addressing emergency needs remains critical. But without sustainable solutions, populations can remain locked in crisis dependent on external assistance for years or even decades. This is why IOM has worked with community leaders applying development principled approaches alongside humanitarian assistance to every major crisis since the early 90s, learning from each one. It is not always just one event that causes people to flee, but the underlying vulnerabilities that left them no alternative. Populations need to identify which vulnerabilities need to be addressed in order for communities to recover. Displacement can be quick, but establishing the conditions for recovery and development is typically a long and challenging process. To achieve long-term recovery, IOM's transition and recovery division follows eight core principles. Be holistic. Groups can make progress towards recovery only to find an unresolved grievance, destabilizing group or environmental hazard can undermine recovery. Assess, analyze and understand what factors, including underlying factors, contributed to the crisis. The different needs of crisis affected groups are interdependent. Failure to address the needs of one group may undermine progress in others. Allow all the different sectors of intervention and ensure an integrated or area-based response. Invest and start early. Transition and recovery interventions often will run in parallel with the emergency ones. From cash handouts to cash for work, from emergency healthcare to rapid rehabilitation of health infrastructure, be rights-based. Group individuals access their rights and help organizations and institutions fulfill their obligations. Although post-crisis government might be overwhelmed and poorly functioning, it is important to build their capacity and support them to be more accountable, accepted and trusted by the communities they serve. Be conflict-sensitive. No intervention that transfers resources is considered neutral by people in a resource scarce environment. These resources represent power and wealth. Avoid inadvertently creating or exacerbating tensions that could lead to conflict. All activities, including local recruitment, should take into consideration local power relationships, customs, values, fares, systems and institutions. Programs should actively seek individuals who can build bridges in their communities, resolve grievances or promote peace. These are often women or youth leaders. Be flexible. Post-crisis or at-risk environments are inherently dynamic and unpredictable. This affects both budgets and plans. For interventions in crisis areas, it is good practice to implement rapid, small-scale projects targeting specific needs. This means that donors need to be engaged on a regular basis. Think long-term. Lay foundations that can contribute to the sustainable development goals. Remember, in the longer term, local authorities will have the primary responsibility for the populations they serve. Work to support them. Be participatory. Empowering individuals and groups to take control of their own recovery is the best way to ensure the sustainability of the assistance provided. Utilize local skills and knowledge as well as existing community groups. Involving communities from the start to assess their true needs, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities is key to building a more resilient, peaceful society. It is also essential to listen to all voices, not just the most powerful or loudest. The quieter voices may also be those that are marginalized from civilian life. Strengthen resilience. Enabling communities to withstand the impact of future social, economic and environmental shocks requires working with an awareness of what those shocks might be and building local resilience. For example, through diversifying livelihoods or rebuilding robust infrastructure. These core principles have been developed from decades of experience in the field. They contribute to global commitments made through the grand bargain and new way of working endorsed by the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016.