A/HRC/32/35 Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons, adopted at the 2006 International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. The Special Rapporteur urges States to put in place national action plans to honour their commitments under such regional standards. His mandate remains available to provide technical assistance to them in that regard. 41. It is of utmost importance to operationalize the Convention. A conference of States parties is urgently required in 2016 to establish a secretariat of the States parties and to adopt a framework of implementation and operationalization. The Special Rapporteur calls for international support to that end. He emphasizes the value of sharing experiences and good practices between countries, to foster Africa-wide solidarity to achieve durable solutions for internally displaced persons. 42. The designation by the African Union of 2016 as “African Year of Human Rights” provides a further opportunity for the continent to address the considerable human rights challenges posed by internal displacement, and to take concrete action to confront them. The year has a special focus on the rights of women in Africa, and the Special Rapporteur urges particular attention to be given to displaced women. He highlights the recommendations contained in his report to the Human Rights Council on internally displaced women in 2013.16 43. The Kampala Convention stands as a model of good practice for other regions. The Special Rapporteur urges other regional organizations to strengthen their activities to prevent and reduce internal displacement, including through the elaboration of new regional standards. In regional consultations ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit, the importance of formulating regional frameworks on internally displaced persons was emphasized, and regional organizations were urged to make commitments in the context of the Summit. In January 2016, the Special Rapporteur attended an international meeting on human rights in the Arab world, resulting in the inclusion of such persons in the outcome of the meeting — an important step in the region’s build-up to the Summit. III. Major challenges and emerging issues in the field of internal displacement 44. The Special Rapporteur highlights below some issues that have consistently emerged over the course of his work and country visits and that he considers require greater attention by national Governments and the international community. A. Integrating early recovery and resilience-building in ongoing and protracted displacement situations 45. Recent displacement crises have demonstrated once again the links between internal displacement situations, the rights of internally displaced persons and the processes leading to refugee and migrant movements across borders. Internally displaced persons and refugees are often driven from their homes by similar circumstances and, for some people, internal displacement may be followed by cross-border displacement. Among the key reasons for further movement across borders are the failure of national protection systems and the lack of prospects for internally displaced persons to find solutions in their country of origin. While the nexus between internally displaced persons and refugees and that between internally displaced persons and migrants demand greater attention, it must be recalled that the majority of persons forcibly displaced by conflict and violence move and 16 A/HRC/23/44. 11