A/HRC/29/34 20. While the numbers of IDPs are shocking, an even more surprising statistic is that the average duration of conflict-induced displacement is now a staggering 17 years.3 While some IDPs are able to return to their homes relatively quickly and with all the necessary assistance, for many, displacement is a protracted and life-changing experience which may last decades. 21. The challenges facing IDPs have long been recognized internationally. In 1998, Kofi Annan, then United Nations Secretary-General, noted that internal displacement had emerged as one of the great human tragedies of our times and that internally displaced people were among the most vulnerable of the human family. The former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and current Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, has stated that “something is going terribly wrong in how we are responding and dealing with this issue”.4 The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, has affirmed that “we have a shared responsibility to act to end this massive suffering. Immediate protection and assistance for the internally displaced is a humanitarian imperative.”5 22. Internal displacement must also be recognized as a development imperative requiring sustainable solutions. If not appropriately addressed through durable solutions, internal displacement can strain the capacities of the communities in which IDPs live, potentially leading to further instability, strife and displacement. Internal displacement crises can impede the achievement of national development goals and may destabilize the regions affected, particularly in conflict or fragile post-conflict settings. However, where development-based durable solutions are implemented, the positive contributions of IDPs to their own and to their hosts’ communities can be significant as IDPs adapt to new lives and new livelihoods. 23. The challenges posed by, and the increasingly protracted duration of, internal displacement mean that it must be recognized as a development challenge for the international community and all nations facing internal displacement situations. Failing to do so potentially leaves many millions of IDPs neglected and excluded from development processes. Regrettably, IDPs frequently fall outside the net of development action, in large part due to the perception that the issues of displaced persons require primarily humanitarian rather than development solutions. While humanitarian assistance is essential to support IDPs through the immediate crisis and its aftermath, development approaches and the engagement of development actors as well as peacebuilding actors from the very outset ensure that durable solutions are made available to IDPs. 24. Rather than being included in development initiatives, over time IDPs often lose the attention and support of national authorities and international actors. This is particularly true for those living outside collective centres or camps, dispersed and hosted within families and displacement-affected communities, for instance in urban areas. However, it can also be witnessed when long-term IDP camps become established, semi-permanent settlements where, due to necessity, coping mechanisms improve and economic and social functions begin to emerge and take root. 25. There is a danger of camps and their populations becoming “invisible” or an inconvenience that national authorities seek to remove by closure or demolition of facilities. Regrettably, some governments have taken the view that the closure of camps and/or the provision of cash grants to IDPs without linking the grants to livelihood and other 3 4 5 See www.internal-displacement.org/blog/2014/a-record-33-3-million-now-displaced-by-conflict-andviolence-worldwide-as-one-family-flees-inside-syria-every-60-seconds. Ibid. Ibid. 7