A/HRC/4/38 page 13 43. Additional efforts to strengthen the normative framework include the Representative’s encouragement of the dissemination and acceptance of the norms underlying the Guiding Principles in his dialogues with all actors involved in the protection of the rights of internally displaced persons. In doing so, he maintained close cooperation with international and regional organizations that have an important role to play in raising awareness on internal displacement among their members and fostering greater cooperation among them on these issues. In addition, in order to assist States in translating the general norms of the Guiding Principles into concrete laws and policies, the Representative promoted the development of a manual for policymakers at the national level. B. Handbook on national implementation of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement for legislators and policymakers 44. As previously reported (E/CN.4/2006/71, para. 54), the Representative is in the process of developing a manual for legislators and national policymakers aimed at assisting them to implement the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (“the Guiding Principles”), which can appear rather abstract, into domestic laws and policies. This manual will consider best practices and further help States to identify legal and policy options for ensuring the protection of the human rights of the internally displaced. The Representative initiated this effort by convening a steering group, comprised of experts and IDP advocates from leading international agencies, regional human rights bodies and academic institutions. This body identified a number of key protection areas, such as political participation, property restitution, and the rights to health, education and livelihoods, which crucially affect the lives of IDPs but are often seen to be technically complicated or liable to misunderstanding in existing domestic contexts. 45. The steering group commissioned studies on these topics, which were discussed by a wider group of expert practitioners at a consultative meeting held in Vienna in September 2006. The meeting, convened by the Representative and hosted by the Government of Austria, in cooperation with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights and the Brookings-Bern Project, had the purpose of ensuring that the studies’ analyses of obstacles to the legal protection of IDPs and prescriptions for resolving them were realistic, geographically representative and up to date. With the studies currently being completed based on the detailed discussions held at the consultative meeting, it is now anticipated that they will be published in the course of 2007. The manual itself will be completed in early 2008. With widespread dissemination and regional seminars, the Representative hopes that the manual will lend further support to the Secretary-General’s call for States to accept and implement the Guiding Principles in national legislation.1 C. International organizations 46. The Representative attaches great importance to working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as this organization is often involved in assisting displaced populations at the country level. He was invited to give the keynote address at a Colloquium on the Political Rights of Persons Displaced by Conflict which was organized by IOM in Geneva, Switzerland, from 12 to 13 June 2006. He noted, in particular, that, whether in emergency or protracted conflict situations, the internally displaced are entitled to protection of their political rights, including the right to vote, the right to freedom of assembly and association and to freedom of expression. Protecting these rights allows displaced persons to play an active role in