A/HRC/13/21 48. In rural settings, internally displaced persons often stay with host families or host communities. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for instance, an estimated 70 per cent of internally displaced persons have been taken in by host families in keeping with African traditions of hospitality.23 Accessing and supporting these internally displaced persons and their hosts are often not given enough priority by national authorities and their humanitarian partners. 49. Host communities and host families often end up assuming considerable burdens due to the influx of displaced persons, which may create social tensions and further protection concerns.24 In this respect a concept of “displacement-affected communities” is helpful in recognizing that not only displaced communities but also communities which host or (re)integrate them are affected by internal displacement. The Representative has consistently encouraged donors and humanitarians to expand their focus and extend protection and assistance to a broader spectrum of beneficiaries. Such activities should go beyond delivering humanitarian aid and include development interventions to strengthen basic infrastructure such as water and sanitation and basic services such as health and education, and increase food security and the availability of shelter. Such interventions may be less costly in the long run and would not only help to address the needs of the displaced but, at the same time, contribute to the development of areas and communities receiving them. 4. Unrecognized internally displaced persons 50. The Representative is concerned that there are several States that host large numbers of internally displaced persons but do not recognize them as such – sometimes going to great lengths to re-label the internally displaced as “mobile and vulnerable populations”, “dislocated people” or “internal migrants” despite international recognition of the description of internally displaced persons in the Guiding Principles (see above, paragraphs 11–14). 51. Internally displaced persons who are not recognized as such often find their specific needs inadequately addressed, including by being excluded from assistance programmes targeting vulnerable populations. Regrettably, the Representative has experienced difficulties in gaining access to States where the existence of internal displacement is denied. B. Addressing multiple layers of vulnerability and discrimination 52. Some observers still question special protection and assistance interventions on the basis of internal displacement, arguing that this tends to detract attention from the true causes of vulnerability such as poverty, gender or ethnic minority status, or that it disregards the needs of other affected populations unable to reach a safer part of the country. 53. While internally displaced persons may not always be worse off than non-displaced populations, they require special protection and assistance because displacement creates specific needs and vulnerabilities not experienced by others. Internally displaced persons lose their homes, forcing them to find alternative shelter or to live in camps or collective shelters with their specific problems. They also lose their livelihoods, means of survival and social and cultural networks, regularly leading to impoverishment, marginalization, 23 24 GE.10-10161 See A/HRC/8/6/Add.3. See also A/HRC/13/21/Add.2. 13