A/HRC/38/39 necessary, when they fail in their human rights obligations towards internally displaced persons. 27. In this twentieth anniversary year, it is important to look beyond the statistics to elaborate on the actual lived experiences of those who experience internal displacement. Each number constitutes the life of an individual. Without exception, the experience of internal displacement is traumatic, life-changing and frequently life-threatening, and accompanied by multiple challenges. Each person displaced has lost access not only to the home that offered shelter from the elements, but also security, dignity, cherished possessions, livelihoods, memories and a sense of belonging and community. 28. For children suffering internal displacement and the violence and human rights violations often associated with it, the experience is particularly traumatic and confusing, often leading to long-lasting psychosocial issues and difficulties that commonly go untreated. Deprived of education, stability and routine often for months or years, it is no exaggeration to speak of a lost generation of young people in some displacement situations. Too often, displaced women and girls experience the further atrocity of sexual violence or rape, exploitation or the threat of violence, sometimes even from those who should be protecting them. There is increasing evidence that sexual violence against men and boys during crises may also be far more widespread than was previously understood.3 While the physical wounds may heal, the psychological and social impacts of displacement and violence are often deep and require far greater attention. 29. Within the statistics, a multitude of challenges and vulnerabilities exist. For older persons with strong ties to their homes and weaker coping mechanisms than the young, the experience can be shocking and disorientating, as they find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings. For those with disabilities, the experience brings immense new problems, sometimes relating to their mobility or their ability to access basic assistance and services, including food and the specialist health care or support they need. For those who may face discrimination in daily life generally, such as minorities, indigenous peoples, or members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities, displacement can exacerbate the challenges and threats that they face and they may find themselves targeted, marginalized or excluded from assistance. 30. Internally displaced persons frequently lose access to their livelihoods and must begin again or acquire new skills. They often lose or are deprived of essential documents that may restrict their access to assistance, services or opportunities. In some circumstances they may fear contact with or lack trust in the authorities who have the responsibility to assist them and prefer to seek anonymity. With incomes gone and resources quickly dwindling, they may be reliant on humanitarian assistance or the generosity of host families or communities or fall into negative coping strategies. Some join migrant routes or leave to seek asylum. The impact of internal displacement can rapidly be felt by wider communities, including those hosting internally displaced persons, who may also require assistance. 31. In 2018, the reality is that millions of internally displaced persons have been left entirely to fend for themselves, often within hostile urban environments and frequently with little or no knowledge of their rights or the expectation of assistance. Too often the support required by these highly vulnerable individuals, families or communities, whose lives have been devastated by internal displacement, is simply inadequate or absent altogether. In other scenarios, the necessary support and humanitarian assistance are available; however, over time, rather than supporting a process of recovery towards durable solutions, they do not adequately adapt and evolve beyond the emergency assistance phase and leave internally displaced persons trapped in a cycle of aid dependency. 32. Each year throws up new internal displacement situations, sometimes for authorities who have not experienced displacement before, either as a result of conflict, climate change, slow- or rapid-onset disasters, or other unexpected events. Recent experience of the mandate has demonstrated the ongoing importance of the Guiding Principles, which 3 8 See UNHCR, “We keep it in our heart. Sexual violence against men and boys in the Syria crisis” (October 2017), available from http://bit.ly/2ixGr1y.