A/HRC/13/21
the work begun with Turkey, Chad and the member States of the International Conference
of the Great Lakes Region (in particular the Central African Republic).
16.
There may also be a need for instruments addressing new thematic areas. Compared
to armed conflict situations, there are relatively few binding norms that apply to disasters
and displacement. The work of the International Law Commission (ILC) on the protection
of persons in the event of disasters, to which the Representative has been able to provide
input, is instructive.6 The Representative, working within the framework of the IASC, has
further concluded that present international law fails to protect people who have no other
choice but to leave their country as a result of disasters (e.g. because rising sea levels flood
an entire island State as a consequence of climate change).7
B.
Mainstreaming the human rights of the internally displaced
17.
The mainstreaming aspect of the mandate has been an essential part of the
Representative’s work. Throughout his tenure the Representative has been a standing
invitee to the IASC, a forum for coordination, policy development and decision-making in
the humanitarian area. He regularly participates at the IASC principals’ level, while support
staff engage at other levels, including in the global clusters on protection and early
recovery. The participation in the IASC is crucial to promoting the human rights of
internally displaced persons within the humanitarian community and to ensuring that
humanitarian actors take into account concerns specific to displacement. The
Representative is encouraged by the request of the General Assembly that he continue his
work in the IASC8 and hopes that his successor will enjoy the same level of access,
including at the principals’ level.
18.
Within the IASC, the Representative has developed two important policy
documents, the Framework for Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons
(A/HRC/13/21/Add.4) and the Operational Guidelines on Human Rights and Natural
Disasters (A/HRC/4/38/Add.1, currently under revision based on the results of field
testing). The endorsement of these documents by the IASC has significantly contributed to
their application by humanitarian actors.
19.
The Representative has helped to trigger and shape the IASC analysis of the
humanitarian implications of climate change, which resulted in shared terminology on
different affected populations and a common understanding of the normative frameworks
for their protection and the legal and institutional gaps. This work culminated in joint
advocacy efforts on the humanitarian implications of climate change in the negotiations on
a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
20.
The Representative continued to engage with the World Bank and contributed to the
development of its new three-year work programme on forced displacement.
21.
In taking up the request of the Human Rights Council to promote the human rights
and specific protection and assistance needs of internally displaced persons in peace
processes, peace agreements and reintegration and rehabilitation processes (see resolution
6
7
8
6
See the second report of the ILC Special Rapporteur on the subject, Mr. Eduardo Valencia-Ospina,
A/CN.4/615
See working paper on “Climate change, migration and displacement: Who will be affected?”
submitted by the informal group on Migration/Displacement and Climate Change of the Inter-Agency
Standing Committee (IASC), 31 October 2008 to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, available at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2008/smsn/igo/022.pdf.
See General Assembly resolution 64/162, para. 17.
GE.10-10161
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