UNHCR’s responsibilities as regards IDPs have developed over time. Initially, the UN system divided responsibility for protecting and assisting IDPs on an ad hoc basis. In 2003, it sought to improve its response through an inter-agency ‘collaborative approach’, which allocated…
The tenth anniversary of the Principles offers an opportunity to review training progress. The Humanitarian Response Review (HRR) which led to the implementation of the cluster approach in December 2005[1] provided a catalyst for humanitarian agencies to reinforce and reorient…
In Burma, they have been used to raise awareness about displacement and mobilise humanitarian assistance but have offered little diplomatic or political leverage to influence the national authorities. During elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kosovo, the Principles focused…
The 1951 Refugee Convention did not apply to internally displaced persons. Principal responsibility for providing for the well-being and security of IDPs rested with their governments but most were unable or unwilling to assume this obligation. Nor did international organisations…
The Oslo conference reaffirmed the Guiding Principles as an important framework for upholding the rights of IDPs and was encouraged by reports from a number of states that the Principles had been incorporated into national laws and policies and that…
The Guiding Principles were designed to reaffirm existing international human rights law and international humanitarian law – and to “clarify grey areas” and “address gaps”.[1] They were also meant to develop the law, rather than merely reflect existing law, but…
The late Sérgio Vieira de Mello identified four ways the Guiding Principles might benefit IDPs: raising awareness of their needs; mobilising support within the humanitarian community; helping field staff find solutions; and assisting governments to provide for IDPs’ security and…
As FMR’s recent issue on Burma outlined[1], large-scale internal displacement has been a reality in Burma since squatters were forcibly evicted from Rangoon and relocated into satellite towns in the 1950s. Only since the introduction of the Guiding Principles has…
Over the past decade the 47-member Council of Europe[1] has put a considerable amount of effort into promoting the Guiding Principles. Eleven of the 47 Council of Europe member states have a combined population of approximately 2.5 million IDPs. Alarmingly, only…