A/81/339 to enjoy their human rights without discrimination. 20 Although return is generally assumed to be the preferred option, local integration may emerge as a preference where physical destruction intersects with instability and unresolved security conditions, or where settlement in urban areas has opened access to education, employment or services. Following disasters, displaced persons typically prefer to return, though this preference weakens where disasters are recurrent or slow -onset processes progressively render areas of origin uninhabitable. Planned relocat ions have also been increasingly implemented across disaster-affected settings as a measure of last resort. 21 Preferences are shaped by fear, trust in authorities, family unity and prospects for rebuilding safely and may differ within households – older persons often wishing to return while younger members prefer the towns where they have rebuilt livelihoods. Some may choose to return despite the absence of safe and adequate conditions, with previously experienced violence or trauma feeling more familiar than the uncertainties of a new environment. 21. The principles of voluntariness, safety and dignity must govern the process. 22 All pathways must be genuinely available, meaning internally displaced persons can obtain documentation and secure tenure, the right to work, and the full spectrum of human rights without discrimination where they choose to settle. Reconstruction plays a critical part in determining whether these pathways become accessible. 22. Voluntary choice implies freedom from coercion and the realistic availability of each option. It entails access to full, objective, current and accurate information, including on physical, material and legal safety in areas of origin, integration or settlement, and on relevant procedures. Intention and perception surveys are among the most widely used tools for understanding preferences in mass devastation settings. 23 They cannot, however, substitute for informed consent at the point of movement. Such surveys may be complemented by go-and-see visits where feasible, civil documentation support, housing, land and property advice, transport assistance, family tracing, and reintegration support. 24 Coercion may also be indirect: the closure of camps or the withdrawal of assistance must not induce movement, and no internally displaced person may be returned or relocated to any place where their life, safety, liberty or health would be at risk. 23. Return, local integration or settlement elsewhere must ensure the physical and material safety of internally displaced persons, who must themselves perceive the situation as safe. 25 Safety requires not only the absence of immediate threats, but confidence that the violations and conditions that caused the displacement will not recur. Reconstruction should incorporate guarantees of non -repetition, including effective security arrangements, accountable institutions, access to justice, inclusive governance, transitional justice and measures addressing discrimination. Reconstruction should also prevent future displacement risks arising from disasters, climate change and environmental degradation through disaster risk reduction, resilient infrastructure, risk-sensitive planning, early warning systems, environmental monitoring and climate adaptation measures. 26 Where areas become uninhabitable, __________________ 20 Inter-Agency Standing Committee, IASC Framework on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons (Washington, D.C., Brookings Institution, 2010). 21 See A/HRC/56/47. 22 Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, principle 28 (E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, annex). 23 See Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Intentions surveys available at https://www.unhcr.org/what-we-do/build-better-futures/solutions/intentions-surveys. 24 See confidential submission from international NGO/NGO. 25 Joint IDP Profiling Service, Durable Solutions Indicator Library, available at https://informdurablesolutions-idp.org/indicators-2/. 26 Submission from Uzbekistan. 26-12053 7/24