This year marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. Twenty years ago, states committed to preventing armed conflict, violence, disasters and human rights violations from displacing people inside their own country, and to providing protection and assistance to them when they did.
During this years the Guiding Principles have assisted many States in their responses to internal displacement, and have been incorporated into many national and regional policies and laws. The drafting and implementation of the Guiding Principles have also helped to raise the global profile of internal displacement. However, the scale of internal displacement remains vast. Every year, millions of people are forced to leave their homes because of floods, storms, droughts, glacier melting, earthquakes and other natural hazards.
In 2017, the world experienced some of the highest rates of internal displacement. The 20th anniversary provides an opportunity to acknowledge the applications and successes of the Guiding Principles while reflecting on their limitations, challenges to their implementation in the future.
On the 17th of april in Geneva the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) convened a stakeholder meeting to launch a Plan of Action for Advancing Prevention, Protection and Solutions for Internally Displaced People 2018-2020. The Plan of Action was developed through consultation with a number of Member States, UN entities, international NGOs, NGO consortia, academia, the World Bank, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and other internal displacement experts.
Consistent with the Guiding Principles, this means taking measures to ensure that the conditions leading to displacement are averted, IDPs are protected, assisted and empowered during displacement, and that they achieve durable solutions.
Download the first draft of the Plan of Action Draft GP20 Plan of Action