A/HRC/27/57 reconstruction stages and in the resettlement processes. Protracted crisis situations also need to be considered.2 10. The above limitation in terms of the scope of the present report does not, however, preclude consideration of the return to normal life, which should be discussed sooner rather than later within the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee in order to frame the principles of human rights that should systematically govern humanitarian activities. In addition, some communities have experienced not only natural disasters and conflicts, but also man-made disasters. Those communities need to be prepared to face man-made disasters, and human rights principles need to be developed in order to address humanitarian crises in any part of the world. Without fully considered action plans, affected and severely disturbed communities cannot react with due regard for human rights. The main objective of the present mandate is therefore to ensure that a human rights perspective is incorporated in humanitarian activities right from the planning stage. 11. Humanitarian activities are, by definition, activities aimed at promoting and protecting human rights. The present report highlights many practices which reflect the successful accomplishment of humanitarian activities in that respect. Experience, however, shows that humanitarian activities, such as rescue, rehabilitation and assistance to affected people may be flawed, and sometimes seriously so, from the viewpoint of human rights. The report therefore also highlights the main challenges in the promotion and protection of human rights in post-disaster and post-conflict situations. III. Introduction and objectives 12. The mandate for the present study is to incorporate a human rights perspective in the planning of humanitarian activities through the identification of best practices and the main challenges in the promotion and protection of human rights in post-disaster and postconflict situations, recognizing that humanitarian activities are, by definition, activities aimed at promoting and protecting human rights. 13. The scope of the study covers humanitarian crises and humanitarian activities in post-disaster and post-conflict situations from a rights-based approach. 14. Who is affected? Both directly and indirectly affected people3 are all persons who are adversely affected by a crisis or disaster and who are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.4 In protracted situations, it would seem that people need ongoing humanitarian assistance, not necessarily of the same nature and scope as during the emergency phase. Generally, in post-disaster and post-conflict situations, all people are at risk, but the impact is worse for vulnerable groups: women, the elderly, children, indigenous peoples, minority 2 3 4 Protracted crisis situations are characterized by recurrent natural disasters and/or conflict, longevity of food crises, breakdown of livelihoods and insufficient institutional capacity to react to the crises. Countries in protracted crisis therefore need to be considered as a special category with particular requirements in terms of interventions by the development community. See www.fao.org/docrep/013/i1683e/i1683e03.pdf. The other category applied to identify affected people is “survivor of an emergency”. That includes those who are injured, from those with critical injuries requiring long-term hospitalization to the walking wounded who may be able to self-treat with basic medication and equipment at home, and those not physically affected, but traumatized by the emergency, including those directly involved, as well as witnesses and local responders. Humanitarian Assistance in Emergencies: Non-statutory guidance on establishing Humanitarian Assistance Centres. See www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/61221/hac_guidance.pdf. See www.who.int/hac/about/definitions/en/. 5