A/HRC/16/43 obligations should prevail in order to prevent or mitigate the impact of natural disasters and the deterioration of environments necessary to human life and to the particular way of life of certain groups such as indigenous peoples, and persons with pastoralist or nomadic lifestyles. It is worth highlighting that these groups of persons as well as vulnerable groups, such as those suffering from chronic poverty in the developing world, are expected to be the most affected by climate change, natural disasters, and the ensuing displacement (see A/HRC/10/13/Add.1, paras. 22, 65, 66, 73). 65. In addition to the individual and collective responsibility of States to put in place adequate preventive and mitigation strategies, such as measures relating to climate change adaptation and disaster risk management, States also bear responsibility for securing the human rights of persons affected directly or indirectly by related events. Amongst other things, this includes addressing food crisis brought on or aggravated by loss of arable land, droughts, floods, and loss of biodiversity, but it also entails putting in place systems of social protection for persons who have become landless, homeless, deprived of livelihoods – and more often than not also internally displaced. Humankind has more recently had an important role to play in exacerbating the onset of both natural disasters and climate-related developments, and from a human rights perspective we must assume our responsibility to address the serious human rights impact on individuals and communities. 3. Women and Internal displacement 66. The Human Rights Council resolution 14/6 extending this mandate, requests the Special Rapporteur to “integrate a gender perspective throughout the work of the mandate, and to give special consideration to the human rights of internally displaced women and children, as well as of other groups with special needs, such as older persons, persons with disabilities and severely traumatized individuals affected by internal displacement, and their particular assistance, protection and development needs”. As part of carrying out this aspect of the mandate, a special focus will be given to exploring more specifically the situation of internally displaced women and girls, including in various types of internal displacement situations. 67. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement explicitly call on States to provide protection for women and girls, including by safeguarding them from gender-specific violence and by ensuring their rights to equal access to services and participation in assistance programs. Yet, we know that abuses against displaced women and girls continue to be perpetrated with impunity in many parts of the world, and that many do not have adequate access to key rights and services, or to adequate physical, legal or social protection. While efforts have been made to strengthen legal protection for displaced women who are survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, more needs to be done both at this level, as well as in terms of concrete assistance so that these women and their families can rebuild their lives and durable solutions be found together with them. Assistance without durable solutions will never be sufficient to improve their situation and their vulnerability to further abuse and human rights violations. 68. Women and girls can be especially vulnerable to forcible displacement, are at further risk during the displacement phase itself, and often remain exposed to serious human rights violations even once they have ostensibly found a solution to their displacement. This continuous vulnerability often stems from their pre-existing situation, as well as the more general social and economic status of women in the country and the community. 69. Sexual and gender-based violence is frequently used as a tactic of war to forcibly displace civilians in order to achieve military or political objectives, to punish communities for their political allegiances, or as a way of conducting inter-ethnic fighting. The impunity that accompanies these crimes is such that armed actors sometimes return to conduct mass rapes on survivors a second time, even after displacement. The risk of this type of violence 16