Conference

Background and justification

In 1998, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (GPs) were presented to the UN Human Rights Commission as an effort to compile and restate existing international human rights and international humanitarian law provisions applicable to internally displaced persons. The GPs were developed by a team of international legal experts led by the Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and with support of the Brookings Institution.

In the ensuing decade, the GPs have been widely recognized as authoritative by a number of international and regional organizations. In addition, governments, UN agencies, regional organizations, and non-governmental organizations use the GPs as the basis for programs and advocacy related to IDPs. Most importantly, despite the fact that the GPs were not drafted or formally approved by an intergovernmental process and thus are non-binding on the states as such, a growing number of governments and regional organizations are using them as the basis for laws and policies on internal displacement. Civil society organizations and IDPs themselves have seen the Guiding Principles as a tool to enhance access to their rights. At the Millennium UN Summit of 2005, the Guiding Principles were unanimously recognized as an “important international framework for the protection of internally displaced persons.”

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided substantial financial and political support to the process of developing the GPs and securing their support. This included the hosting of several key events in the run-up to the launch of the GPs, together with the Norwegian Refugee Council. The Norwegian Government has also demonstrated steadfast support for the mandate of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.

In 1998, the Norwegian Refugee Council, at the request of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, established a project, currently known as the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). Today, the IDMC is the leading provider of IDP-related information worldwide. This function is recognized by the UN General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights. As an international NGO, NRC has a specific focus on IDPs, and has formal cooperation agreements with UNHCR, OCHA and the UN Special Representative. IDMC is the main provider of training on the GPs for UN staff, national institutions and civil society actors in the field.

Given the prominent role the Norwegian Government has played in supporting the GPs’ development and promoting their implementation, the Norwegian MFA will host the conference in Oslo, in cooperation with the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Representative on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.

Purpose

The purpose of the conference is to highlight and promote consensus around the Guiding Principles at the political level. The conference aims to generate the political will to incorporate the Guiding Principles into national, regional and global legal frameworks and make progress towards their implementation through effective measures taken by governments, thus enhancing the protection afforded to the world’s over 26 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Key messages

The conference is expected to highlight the following key messages:

1. Experience to date with incorporating GPs into national legislation has been positive
2. The GPs are equally relevant for addressing internal displacement caused by natural disasters and other environmental factors
3. Full implementation of the GPs requires an alignment between domestic legal frameworks and the GPs
4. In order to further formalize the GPs, it is time to consider legally binding regional or sub-regional instruments

Structure

The conference will focus on three main issues:

1. Taking stock
The first main session will take stock of achievements made so far in implementing the GPs, with a focus on lessons-learned and best practices. National ministers from countries with legal frameworks that have been brought in line with the GPs will speak about their concrete experiences. Examples of countries that have gradually acknowledged their IDP problem and state responsibility and have increased their co-operation with the international community, such as Georgia and Turkey, will be discussed. The IDMC Global Overview, an NRC study and a joint IDMC/Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement (Brookings) study will serve as background documents.

2. Challenges
The second main session will look at future challenges and will explore the relevance of the GPs in addressing them. In this context, the role of the GPs in ensuring the protection of IDPs uprooted by natural disasters and other environmental factors will be discussed.

3.Ensuring implementation
This session will focus on how to generate the political will to translate the GPs into concrete and effective measures ensuring better protection and assistance of internally displaced populations. The RSG’s. IDP Law and Policy Manual: Incorporating the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement into National Laws and Policies will be presented at the conference.

Participation

Participation is limited to a selected group of high-level representatives, not exceeding 120 persons. Participants will include:

• Representatives of countries affected by internal displacement: Angola, Uganda, Georgia, Turkey, Colombia
• UN: UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons
• Representatives of regional and sub regional organisations: AU, Great Lakes Conference, Council of Europe
• Donors and Western political community supportive of the RSG’s mandate
• Representatives from NGOs and civil society
• Representative from national human rights associations
• Academic/research institutes

Note: Participation is limited to a selected group of high level representatives. If you have not received an invitation you can not register for the conference.