The launch of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement in 1998 was followed by the growing adoption of national instruments on internally displaced persons (IDPs), reflecting the recognition of internal displacement as a global phenomenon. Revised and updated by the…
As of mid-2017, 40 States which have experienced internal displacement had introduced some 69 domestic legislative instruments and policies (omitting minor policies and amendments).[1] Across these laws and policies there is clear acceptance that internally displaced persons (IDPs) require some…
Conflict-induced internally displaced persons (IDPs) have always enjoyed special protection under Georgian law. In 1996, two years prior to the launch of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Georgia enacted its own law on internal displacement. Intended to protect those…
The African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons – the Kampala Convention, adopted in 2009 – owes its development in large part to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. It reflects the international human rights…
The relatively young State of Belize – an independent nation only since 1981 – is perched on the eastern coast of Central America and has a population of just 380,000. Belize has always experienced migration flows, which tended to be…
The role of language in upholding the rights of internally displaced people (IDPs) is very often overlooked, yet attention to language and communication is central to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.[1] The Guiding Principles explicitly mention IDPs’ right to…
Given the increasing levels of internal displacement globally and the growing interest in ‘data-driven’ policy and programming, it is especially relevant in this 20th anniversary year to ask whether the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement are reflected in such efforts.…
In 2015, internally displaced persons (IDPs) were recognised in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, marking the first time an international framework has acknowledged the importance of including in a country’s development plan those who have been internally displaced. Launched…
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognises that forced displacement is one of the main threats to development. It states that internally displaced persons (IDPs) must be empowered and their needs taken into account by governments, and it commits all…
The bedrock of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement is the notion of ‘sovereignty as responsibility’.[1] Internal displacement – being by definition a phenomenon that occurs within a State’s borders and that most often affects its nationals – must be…