A/HRC/4/38
page 16
56.
The Representative is following with interest the development of new initiatives in other
Asian countries, for example, in Timor Leste, where the Provedor’s Office has translated the
Guiding Principles into Tetum and developed a media strategy to raise awareness of the situation
of IDPs in that country. At a training workshop and consultation on internal displacement in
South Asia organized by Forum Asia in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in July 2006, participants called
upon NHRIs of the region to implement and operationalize the recommendations of a previous
regional workshop (Colombo, 2005) and particularly to implement the Guidelines on Internally
Displaced Persons in the Context of Natural Disasters: a Common Methodology for National
Human Rights Institutions.3
57.
In Africa, the Representative also notes that annual conferences of NHRIs have
highlighted internal displacement as an issue of concern in the region. The Second African
Union Conference of African National Human Rights Institutions, held in Banjul from 12
to 14 May 2006 considered internal displacement and the need for NHRIs to strengthen their
role in addressing the rights of IDPs.
58.
Finally, from 24 to 26 October 2006, the Eighth International Conference of National
Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights was held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia,
on the topic of migration. Internal displacement was the topic of one of five working groups.
The Representative takes note of the adoption during the Conference of the Santa Cruz
Declaration in which the Conference welcomes the Guiding Principles and calls on NHRIs to
encourage their governments to develop legal and policy frameworks on internal displacement.
F. Partnership with civil society organizations
59.
The Representative, in cooperation with the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal
Displacement has worked extensively with civil society partners to enhance the protection of the
human rights of IDPs worldwide. Several projects have been developed including a series of
workshops which have resulted in the development, translation and dissemination of toolkits on
the Guiding Principles in South Asia; an IDP newsletter and a training and consultation
workshop in Sri Lanka; studies on the development of national jurisprudence and a workshop on
urban displacement in Colombia; legal clinics and monitoring missions in Southern Sudan; and a
publication on internal displacement in Turkey.
III. MAINSTREAMING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF INTERNALLY
DISPLACED PERSONS IN ALL RELEVANT PARTS OF THE
UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM
60.
The Commission on Human Rights, in paragraph 23 of its resolution 2005/46, requests
the Representative to “address the complex problem of internal displacement, in particular by
mainstreaming human rights of internally displaced into all relevant parts of the United Nations
system”. In line with this, the Representative continued to engage in dialogue with relevant
partners within the United Nations system. In addition, the Representative has expanded his
mainstreaming activities through efforts to systematically engage with the expanded
United Nations country team and, where relevant, with United Nations missions when
visiting a country.
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