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KAMPALA CONVENTION - African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa

 

http://www.africa-union.org/root/AR/index/Convention%20on%20IDPs%20_Eng_%20-%20Final.pdf___

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http://www.internal-displacement.org/

http://www.internal-displacement.org/kampala-convention

 

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The Kampala Convention: Africa

 

December 6, 2012 - The Kampala Convention is an historic milestone. The first of its kind in the world, the Kampala Convention, which came into force on 6th December 2012, is a continental instrument that binds governments to provide legal protection for the rights and well-being of those forced to flee inside their home countries due to conflict, violence, natural disasters, or development projects.

40 per cent of the all the people worldwide who have been displaced within their own country as a result of conflict or violence live in Africa.

There are almost four times as many internally displaced people (IDPs) as there are refugees in Africa. Unlike refugees, IDPs do not have a special status under international law.

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INTERNALLY DISPLACED WOMEN & CHILDREN

 

The often-cited statistic that as many as 80 per cent of displaced populations are women and children fails to convey the complete devastation that displacement visits upon women and communities. Leaving homes, property and community behind renders women vulnerable to violence, disease and food scarcity, whether they flee willingly or unwillingly. Internally displaced women face additional dangers as they are often invisible to the international community within the context of violent conflict. Camps for refugees and the internally displaced have been criticized for not addressing women’s needs and concerns in their design and procedure. Failure to account for women’s security and health needs can make a camp that was intended to provide refuge a dangerous and deadly place for women and girls. ________________________________________________________________

 

The Kampala Convention Overview

  • Reaffirms that national authorities have the primary responsibility to provide assistance to internally displaced people (IDPs)
  • Comprehensively addresses different causes of internal displacement: conflict, generalised violence, human-caused or natural disasters, and development projects, like building dams or clearing land for large-scale agriculture.
  • Recognises the critical role that civil society organisations, and the communities which take them in, play in assisting IDPs and obliges governments to assess the needs and vulnerabilities of the forcibly displaced, and the host communities, in order to address the plight of people uprooted within their borders
  • Was adopted by the African Union and currently legally binds 15 African countries to prevent displacement, assist those who have been forced to leave their homes, and find safe and sustainable solutions to help people to rebuild their lives.
  • A total of 37 African countries have demonstrated their commitment to the convention by signing it, but are not yet legally obliged by its contents.