27.10.09
Category: Africa, Relief work, East and Central AfricaThe AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of IDPs in Africa is an important instrument for the future protection of internally displaced persons in Africa.
The African Union (AU) concluded a Special Summit in Kampala, Uganda, by signing the Convention of the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. The Danish Refugee Council regards the Convention as an important instrument for the future, not least in terms of the leverage it can give in the dialogue with national and regional duty-bearers.
The text of the Convention is largely consistent with the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, with firm prohibitions on forced displacement and clear delineation of the responsibilities of member states to respect the rights and tend to the needs of people forced from their homes.
“Africa is the home of 11.6 million internally displaced persons, they need better protection – and we believe this Convention is a first important step in that direction,” says Andreas Kamm, General Secretary of the Danish Refugee Council.
The Convention is particularly interesting in terms of its recognition of natural disasters, climate change and large-scale development projects as legitimate causes of displacement.
To organisations as DRC it is further important that the states signing the Convention have now committed themselves to facilitate access to humanitarian agencies and local civil society groups in the event that the state is unable or unwilling to live up to its protection responsibilities.
“There are still gaps to be closed, there is a very limited list of grounds for discrimination leading to displacement and there is a lack of an accountability mechanism,” says Andreas Kamm, “No convention is perfect and this one is not going to be implemented in full within a month or two, but it is a very important step forward and we believe it will make it possible to secure better protection for more internally displaced in Africa in the future.”
