A/HRC/40/26
adopted national laws or policies on internal displacement or had assigned responsibility for
coordination to an institutional mechanism. Despite the many measures taken, little
progress had been made on the ground. The Conference of States Parties had resulted in the
adoption of an action plan and the African Union model law for the implementation of the
Convention, which had been in the making for many years.
21.
In her conclusions, the Special Rapporteur of the African Commission on Human
and Peoples’ Rights mentioned a number of steps that the African Union had taken on
internal displacement, including the establishment of the Specialized Technical Committee
on Migration, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in 2015 and the adoption of the
Common African Position on Humanitarian Effectiveness in 2016. All 10 of the pillars into
which the Common Position grouped humanitarian priorities were relevant to the protection
of displaced persons. The Commission was also in the process of developing a general
comment on article 12, on the right to freedom of movement, of the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights. Finally, as 2019 would mark the tenth anniversary of the
Kampala Convention, and as the African Union had declared 2019 the year of refugees,
returnees and internally displaced persons in Africa, efforts to establish an internally
displaced persons’ day, sponsored by the African Union, were also under way.
22.
The Undersecretary for Human Rights of Honduras, presenting the experience of
Honduras, particularly with respect to the importance of data in designing comprehensive
human rights–based responses to internal displacement, said that in Honduras, gang
violence and organized crime had resulted in an increased number of internally displaced
persons, an increase that had affected many families and communities. In 2013, the
Government of Honduras had established the Inter-Institutional Commission for the
Protection of Persons Displaced by Violence. The creation of the Commission, which had
provided a forum for deliberation, consensus and the development of more coordinated
responses, had itself been a token of the institutional recognition of the problem of internal
displacement. The Commission was composed of representatives of 10 state institutions, 4
civil society organizations and 1 municipal association. The Commission’s implementing
decree provided that its principal attributions were to initiate investigations, study the
causes of internal displacement and identify the most heavily affected areas and
communities. The Commission had identified data collection as a priority, so as to make it
possible to obtain an accurate understanding of the current situation with respect to internal
displacement and to tailor adequate and sustainable responses from a human rights and
humanitarian perspective.
23.
Since its inception, the Commission had relied on the Guiding Principles as an
essential reference. She mentioned the 2015 visit to Honduras of the Special Rapporteur on
the human rights of internally displaced persons, who had formulated a series of
recommendations that had also constituted an important reference for the policies adopted
subsequent to his visit.
24.
A study carried out by the Commission in 2015 had revealed that between 2004 and
2014, more than 174,000 persons had been internally displaced in Honduras in 20 urban
municipalities. Data on the magnitude and profile of internally displaced persons had
contributed to the design of policies and tools, including a draft law on prevention, support
and protection in connection with internally displaced persons, as well as municipal
response plans in two of the most badly affected municipalities. A technical committee had
also been established to coordinate the development of a second characterization study in
2018, which had sought to bring information up to date, deepen the understanding of the
magnitude and impact of internal displacement and strengthen national responses. Unlike
the initial study, which had been limited to 20 municipalities, the 2018 initiative had aimed
at national representation, including urban and rural areas.
25.
In addition to the characterization exercises, the populations most severely affected
by internal displacement, such as women, children and adolescents and lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender and intersex communities, had been identified. One municipality had
addressed internal displacement in its development plan, a step that would later inform its
strategic priorities and the financial and operational resources set aside for them.
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