A/HRC/26/33 policies and legislative frameworks to ensure its implementation at the national level.8 The scope of the present report is therefore not limited to an analysis of the unique character of the Kampala Convention, but also sets out a proposed course of action to ensure that this innovative and comprehensive framework translates into concrete gains for internally displaced persons. B. The Convention in context 31. The adoption of the Kampala Convention in 2009 followed five years of consultations, drafting and negotiations by legal experts from States Members of the African Union. This African-led process emerged from the recognition and decision of the Executive Council of the African Union, in July 2004, that a separate and appropriate regional framework should be developed to protect and assist adequately internally displaced persons and to support durable solutions.9 32. The development of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement was an essential first step in establishing a normative framework on internal displacement, clarifying international minimum standards for protecting and assisting internally displaced persons. Regional and subregional intergovernmental organizations have increasingly acknowledged, relied on and adopted the Guiding Principles,10 while States have increasingly committed to adhering to the Guiding Principles and to incorporating them into their domestic legal frameworks.11 33. In 2006, during the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, 11 States of the Great Lakes Region adopted a binding Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region,12 comprising 10 separate protocols, including the Protocol on the Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons and the Protocol on the Property Rights of Returning Persons. The Protocol on the Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons, which entered into force in June 2008, legally binds Member States to enact national legislation to domesticate the Guiding Principles fully and to provide a legal framework for their implementation within national legal systems, and to ensure the effective participation of internally displaced persons in developing such legislation. 34. The above-mentioned Protocol on Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons served as impetus for the initiative by the African Union to draft the Kampala Convention, which further crystallized and advanced a regional approach to protecting the rights of displaced persons in efforts to achieve peace, security and development.13 35. The development and adoption of the Kampala Convention should also be seen against the backdrop of national efforts to develop laws and policies on internal displacement, in Africa and throughout the world. To date, 25 Governments, including six in Africa, have adopted a variety of national policies or legislation specifically addressing 8 9 10 11 12 13 A/HRC/16/43, para. 58. Decisions EX.CL/Dec.129 (V) and EX.CL/127 (V). See Organization of American States resolution 2667 of 7 June 2011. See also Council of Europe recommendation Rec(2006)6 of 5 April 2006. A/67/289, paras. 34 and 40. South Sudan joined the Pact in 2012. Chaloka Beyani, “The Elaboration of a Legal Framework for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa”, Journal of African Law, vol. 50, No. 2, 2006, pp.187-197. 9