The Summit was an historic event, bringing together representatives from forcibly displaced populations from all over the globe for the first time to discuss, plan and organise on the subject of refugee self-representation. It was convened and organised by representatives…
My name is Iwuoha Chima Iwuoha, and I live in Aba, in Abia State, Nigeria. During the Nigerian civil war of 1967–70, malnutrition was widespread in eastern Nigeria (then known as Biafra) and many children died of kwashiorkor, a severe…
At present, there are 33 national humanitarian child protection coordination groups (formerly known as child protection sub-clusters) in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) cluster system.[1] These groups set the overall strategic direction for child protection humanitarian responses and can have…
The experience of internal displacement is traumatic, life-changing and frequently life-threatening. Each person displaced has lost access not only to the home that offered shelter but also to security, dignity, cherished possessions, livelihoods, memories and a sense of belonging and…
In her Foreword to this issue of FMR, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, poses the question: Where do we go from here? In the 20 years since they were launched, the Guiding…
Since the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement were presented to the UN Commission on Human Rights in 1998, there has been important progress on preventing, responding to and finding solutions to internal displacement. Internal displacement nevertheless remains a significant global…
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…