Global Report on Law and Policy on Internal Displacement: Implementing National Responsibility

This report documents three decades of experience in domestic law and policymaking on internal displacement in line with international standards and expert recommendations, including most recently the Action Agenda on Internal Displacement. It analyzes key benchmarks of national responsibility, global and regional trends, and learning related to developing national instruments to protect internally displaced people and support durable solutions for them. It provides insights on substantive and procedural issues that governments across regions have tackled, including African Union Member States that have developed domestic legislation as parties to the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention).  

While constitutions and national legislation are applicable in situations of internal displacement, and internally displaced people are entitled to protection under these laws, these often fail to address their specific needs and vulnerabilities. Such legislation is not drafted with displacement in mind; in some cases, existing laws may even have detrimental effects on IDPs’ enjoyment of their rights. Legislation often also fails to allocate clear roles and responsibilities to competent authorities at the national and local levels or to provide a sound basis for making adequate resources available to protect and assist IDPs and find durable solutions for them. Normative frameworks on internal displacement can therefore be a precondition for concrete operational achievements; they facilitate domestic and international cooperation and coordination, as well as boost the reliability and credibility of government responses to IDPs. 

• Watch this video  to hear why adopting an IDP law is important to people at risk of displacement in Honduras. 
• Click here  to explore our interactive Dashboard on Law and Policy on Internal Displacement.   
• Click here  to learn more about the GPC Task Team on Law and Policy and the support we can provide.  
• Presentation on key takeaways from the report
• For any feedback or questions, please contact Martina Caterina at [email protected].