A/HRC/41/40 Commission on Human Rights during its sixty-third session, held in Bogotá in February 2018 at the request of the Network of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Americas. In April 2018, she participated in a meeting organized by the European Network on human rights issues of IDPs, held in Kyiv. Participants discussed the crucial role of NHRIs in internal displacement situations and in advocating for the integration of the Guiding Principles into national law and policy. The European Network issued a statement, 9 which was endorsed by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.10 24. On 4 March 2019, she organized a follow-up workshop in Geneva in collaboration with GANHRI on the role of NHRIs in preventing conditions leading to internal displacement. National institutions from Colombia, Honduras and Kenya presented concrete examples of their activities, strategies, tools and mechanisms to minimize and avoid the risk of internal displacement, including monitoring and risk assessment and the establishment of early warning mechanisms. 25. The following discussion is based on the consultative process and additional research by the Special Rapporteur. B. Obstacles to engagement by national human rights institutions on internal displacement 26. The challenges to fully addressing the human rights of IDPs facing NHRIs include funding and resources, capacity, access and security, and the political will of national authorities. Some institutions emphasized that at every phase of displacement, the issues of IDPs must be more clearly recognized by all stakeholders as human rights concerns, requiring consistent engagement by human rights actors alongside humanitarian and development counterparts to ensure protection, rapid resolution and remedy in accordance with human rights laws and standards. Recognizing the human rights causes, dimensions and implications of humanitarian crises is essential to effective and appropriate action, ensuring that responses recognize IDPs as rights holders rather than only beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance, and States as duty bearers with the primary responsibility for protecting their human rights. 27. The human rights issues of IDPs may be part of the immediate core human rights functions and priorities of NHRIs, particularly in the field of civil and political rights. However, other human rights concerns of IDPs, including those relating to housing, land and property and the achievement of durable solutions, may be complex, long-term, and require specialist technical or legal interventions to ensure protection, resolution and justice. They place new and substantial burdens on authorities and NHRIs, sometimes over months or years if displacement becomes protracted. The national institutions are essential to addressing such critical human rights issues, including through persistent engagement with Government to encourage effective responses for the duration of displacement. 28. Where conflict or disaster results in internal displacement, NHRIs face potentially huge and complex new caseloads of human rights issues in addition to their core human rights work, which should not decline in terms of attention and resources. Institutions raised concerns about their capacities to respond in the emergency phases of displacement, when human rights monitoring is crucial. Recognizing that human rights violations occur and can be prevented prior to and during displacement, NHRIs must be engaged at all phases of displacement. Preventing and responding to internal displacement will generally require significant increases in funding, capacity, staffing and resources for NHRIs to respond effectively and sustainably in the short, medium and long term. 29. Working with inadequate funds and inconsistent funding were commonly cited obstacles to the work of NHRIs, hindering their capacity to address the human rights of IDPs. Institutions emphasized the need for specific funding for IDPs in their core budgets 9 10 See http://ennhri.org/IMG/pdf/ennhri_statement_on_nhris_role_on_idps_protection-2.pdf. See www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/europe-s-duty-to-internally-displaced-persons. 7