A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to produce social change by helping marginalized communities to become advocates for social justice and claim their rights

Internally Displaced Persons

KEY POINTS

A year-end report in 2007 by the Internal Displacement Monitor Center (IDMC) determined that 50% or 12.7 million of the world’s internally displaced persons (IDPs) are located across 20 countries across Africa. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Somalia, and Uganda host at least a million IDPs – each.   This synopsis will give an overview of the IDP issue and the needs specific to this population including insecurity, especially vulnerable groups, limited access to services and the rights of the IDPs.

Insecurity

IDPs across Africa face threats to their physical security as result of their circumstance.  Many have become victims of torture, sexual violence, forced recruitment and property vandalism/theft.  The lack of capacity in security assurance be it in the form of law enforcement or effective policing has allowed the victimization to continue.  Security also becomes vulnerable to continued clashes by government forces and rebel militia.  The presence of landmines and other unexploded ordinances (UXOs) have also threatened the security of IDPs well after the conflict has ended. Living in the camps has also contributed to violence due to warring groups living alongside one another.  

Vulnerable Groups

The urgency and strain of the situation have left men, women, boys and girls vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and deprivation.   Many have become the only surviving member of their families or have been separated with no means of reuniting with them.  These vulnerable groups include widows, orphans, the elderly, the disabled and families without the traditional male head of household.  As result many children for example have become victim to kidnapping, child labor and child trafficking. Women are especially and routinely at risk of repeated sexual assaults.

Limited Access

Many IDPs in camps do not have access to clean water, sanitation facilities or social services. In addition many face an increased risk to contracting disease as a result of the limited access to services and the congested camps where in some instances 10 people share one room with 20 to 45 people assigned to a single latrine.  Access to food and the ability to ensure food security is also a serious difficulty.  As a result, child malnutrition in the camps for example reached emergency levels in 2007.  Limited access to health care and information has resulted in worsening immunization coverage, increased exposure to treatable/preventable diseases and increasing HIV infections.

Rights for IDPs

In 1998, the UN Secretary General presented the “Protection of Civilians”  (POC) which is an overarching concept of humanitarian policies that comprise a cohort of protection components from varied fields including international humanitarian & human rights law, military & security sectors, and humanitarian assistance.    The Security Council supported the Secretary General’s POC initiative and a report followed, which provided the Security Council with recommendations on how they could improve the physical and legal protection of civilians in armed conflict situations.

Between 1998-2001, the Representative of the Secretary General, Francis Deng presented and produced the “Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement” through the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).  Its purpose is to raise awareness for the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs), mobilize support, assist in problem solving, assist governments in providing security and ensuring the well-being of their IDP population and developing a legal framework for IDPs while engaging governments and other actors on their behalf.

As a result the Great Lakes Region which consist of the 11 African countries (Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, DRC, Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia) created the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region which compels all members to develop an Internally Displaced Person Policy for there country using the Guiding Principles as the foundation.  This policy improves the awareness of IDP rights in effected communities, improves accountability of project implementation, and supports the development of traditional justice systems to assist in the reintegration and reconciliation process