A/HRC/41/40 D. Responding to internal displacement 1. Human rights monitoring, data gathering and analysis 45. The lack of quality data hampers humanitarian assistance and protection of human rights. Where NHRIs have the capacity, they play a full role in data gathering and human rights protection monitoring, with particular attention to vulnerable groups. Often working alongside national and international partners, they help to complete the picture of internal displacement, undertaking joint monitoring missions with partners or acting separately with distinct human rights and protection objectives. For example, following earthquakes in Ecuador and Nepal, the NHRIs in both countries immediately deployed monitors to assess the human rights situation of IDPs. Monitoring and data gathering on internal displacement has been an important function of NHRIs, including in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Iraq, Mexico, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Ukraine. 46. The role of NHRIs in monitoring and data gathering is based on criteria that include their capacity, the availability of trained staff and their access to affected regions and displaced populations. National human rights institutions highlighted the value of disaggregated and detailed data to help reveal the human rights challenges facing IDPs and their multisectoral dimensions. The institutions’ human rights, local and political knowledge can be essential, and they play an important role in ensuring that key principles of data gathering and use are respected, including participation, disaggregation, nondiscrimination, self-identification, transparency, privacy and accountability. Coordinated approaches to monitoring operations are usefully facilitated under the humanitarian cluster system and NHRIs have been effective participants in protection clusters, which they sometimes co-lead.14 47. Accurate and disaggregated data inform government, humanitarian and other responders of immediate and longer-term needs and are an essential evidence base for human rights actors and service providers, notably the Government as primary duty bearer. National human rights institutions promote and implement human rights-based approaches to data that may differ from data gathered and methodologies employed by other partners or purely for humanitarian purposes. Disaggregation of data and human rights-focused data collection systems allow more detailed data analysis to identify hidden human rights issues and inequalities that needs assessments might not always reveal. For example, the Nepal national institution closely monitored national post-earthquake relief distribution programmes to ensure that all vulnerable groups were addressed without discrimination. 48. National human rights institutions have provided expertise on the shaping of national indicators relevant to the human rights of IDPs that may not feature in humanitarian data-gathering efforts. This may require adapted methodologies and tools, and the Philippines national institution has developed such a specific tool. National human rights institutions should monitor all aspects of internal displacement, particularly where the State concerned does not recognize internal displacement or where other human rights and humanitarian partners are absent. Building a detailed picture of human rights concerns, including those of women and girls and other vulnerable groups, allows them to advise authorities and other stakeholders, for example regarding the human rights implications of camp administration by security personnel and the need for them to be civilian in character. 49. The institutions may need to conduct detailed human rights investigations into incidents involving IDPs, including grave human rights violations. Where possible, NHRIs have undertaken investigations at local and national levels and/or collaborated with other independent bodies, including United Nations commissions of inquiry. Where they lack capacity or opportunity to do so, including due to security factors, at a minimum they should seek victim and witness testimonies and gather and securely store evidence for future use in judicial or other appropriate proceedings, including subsequent transitional justice processes. 14 For example, in Kenya, a protection working group on internal displacement was co-led by the national human rights institution and the Ministry of Justice. 11