A/HRC/38/39
However, existing national laws often fail to address the specific needs and vulnerabilities
of internally displaced people, allocate clear responsibilities to competent authorities at the
national and local level, or provide a sound basis for making adequate resources available.
Recognizing that the Guiding Principles are based on and informed by international human
rights law means that incorporating them into national law should be seen by Governments
as a further domestic articulation of their human rights obligations and an essential
component of the good governance of internal displacement.
38.
The Special Rapporteur recognizes that every State and internal displacement
situation is different and that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for responding to
internal displacement. However, assisting States to develop national law and policy is an
effective way for the international community, the United Nations and other appropriate
stakeholders, including the Special Rapporteur, to provide practical assistance to States in
shaping their own national laws and policy. In that regard, resources inspired and informed
by the Guiding Principles can be helpful to States and others as they shape national law and
policy.
39.
Those sources include the Brookings-Bern project on internal displacement, which
published a manual in 2008 aimed at providing guidance for national authorities seeking to
prepare and enact domestic legislation and policies addressing internal displacement. 5 In
addition, a 2013 study by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and the BrookingsLondon School of Economics project on internal displacement furthered the practical
approach to assisting States to use the Guiding Principles. 6
40.
The Guiding Principles have helped to inspire other important tools and resources,
such as the 2010 Inter-Agency Standing Committee framework on durable solutions for
internally displaced persons. As articulated in the Guiding Principles, internally displaced
persons have a right to a durable solution and this key framework clearly elaborates on that
right, the responsibilities of national authorities and the role of humanitarian and
development actors to assist in the search for durable solutions. The framework elaborates
at length on the substance and requirements for action. The Guiding Principles further
informed the principles on housing and property restitution for refugees and displaced
persons, which elaborate on this specific area of rights.
41.
The Guiding Principles also informed the Handbook for the Protection of Internally
Displaced Persons, which goes beyond law and policy measures to provide practical tools
and guidance for humanitarian and development actors, including national authorities, on
how to operationalize protection and provide effective protection responses in situations of
armed conflict.7 Equally, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee operational guidelines on
the protection of persons in situations of natural disasters and the 2007 basic principles and
guidelines on development-based evictions and displacement provide guidance on
addressing the human rights implications of development-linked displacement.8
42.
It is clear that national authorities should address issues of internal displacement as a
whole and acknowledge internally displaced persons as highly vulnerable populations,
requiring dedicated policy and programme responses. However, recognizing the diversity
of challenges and experiences that exist within internally displaced populations, it is also
necessary for national authorities to consider those issues through other and complementary
human rights lenses and national obligations. They include the commitment of the State to
protect the rights of the child, the rights of women, older persons, persons with disabilities
and in certain cases, minority or indigenous rights, as they intersect with internal
displacement situations. Even where no specific internal displacement law or policy exists,
5
6
7
8
10
Protecting Internally Displaced Persons: a Manual for Law and Policymakers, available at
www.unhcr.org/50f955599.pdf.
“National instruments on internal displacement: a guide to their development”, available at
www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/IDPersons/Law-and-policymaking_Guide-2013.pdf.
Available from www.unhcr.org/protection/idps/4c2355229/handbook-protection-internally-displacedpersons.html.
See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/IDPersons/OperationalGuidelines_IDP.pdf and
www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Housing/Guidelines_en.pdf.
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