Additional Resources for Orphans of Conflict: The Plight of Internally Displaced Persons
IDPs and Reintegration
IDP Voices, Project of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center This site lets internally displaced people tell their life stories – in their own words. The narratives in these pages are valuable complements to the official information on conflicts which governments and international organizations offer. Read and listen to IDP Voices from Colombia and Georgia. IDP Voices from further countries will be added as the projects progress.
Ten Years. Thirty Principles. In 1998, 30 basic principles describing the human rights standards for the internally displaced were presented to the United Nations. The Representative for the UN Secretary General and the Brookings Project on Internal Displacement developed these principles over the course of two years of expert consultations and drafting. Known as the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and distilled from existing international human rights and humanitarian law, these 30 principles are the international standard protecting the rights of the tens of millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) globally.
The Colombian government is in denial about the country's human rights situation. This report says that despite increasing reports of forced internal displacement, attacks against social and human rights activists and killings by security forces, Colombian authorities are attempting to paint a positive picture. The most comprehensive up-to-date study on the state of human rights in Colombia, the report is the culmination of in situ research between 2006 and 2008.
The government of Colombia’s response to the humanitarian needs of internally displaced people continues to show serious gaps despite increases in funding and planning at the central level. This summary gives an overview of the situation with links to case studies and the full report in pdf.
"Displacement Caused by the Effects of Climate Change: Who Will Be Affected and What are the Gaps in the Normative Frameworks for Their Protection?" Background Paper by Walter Kälin, Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and Co-Director, Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, October 10, 2008
Most causes of displacement triggered by climate change, such as flooding, hurricanes, desertification or even the "sinking" of stretches of land, are not new. However, their frequency and magnitude are likely to increase. The challenge is to better analyze these causes of displacement, to identify the areas where the effects of climate change are most likely to occur and to examine the character of forced displacement and other population movements they could trigger. This manual is meant to provide guidance to national authorities seeking to prepare and enact domestic legislation and policies addressing internal displacement in their country. In presenting advice on how to shape laws and policies addressing the protection and assistance needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and ensuring their rights, the manual draws on two key sources:
- The rules of itnernational human rights law and international humanitarian law, as reflected in the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (hereinafter Guiding Principles).
- An increasing body of IDP-specific laws and policies already enacted and implemented by national authorities in countries of every region in the world.
To complement the Guidance on Profiling Internally Displaced Persons, in 2006 IDMC commissioned a study from the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University to develop research tools to estimate the number and distribution of IDPs living in urban settings, and to gather information about their assistance and protection needs. Case studies conducted in Khartoum (Sudan), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) and Santa Marta (Colombia) between 2006 and 2008 compared the experience of IDPs and other living in the same city.
The protracted internal armed conflict in Colombia had by June 2008 displaced 2,649,139 people according to the government, and 4,361,355 people according to a reliable non-governmental source. An alarming trend of rising internal displacement has been registered since 2006, and the highest rate of displacement in 23 years was recorded in the first semester of 2008.
September 22, 2008 Special Focus, Human Rights Watch
In the last months of 2007, tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees left Syria to return to their country. Whether they returned in Iraqi government-sponsored bus convoys or on individual journeys, some in Baghdad and Washington touted their move as a sign of success in bringing order to Baghdad and a vote of confidence by the returnees in Iraq’s safety and stability. Elsewhere, governments like Jordan and Sweden that had provided sanctuary to Iraqi refugees may have seen in the returns a signal that the time had come to begin compelling Iraqis to return, rather than providing them with asylum and assistance.
Hurricane Katrina IDPs
The following report details why the call for Amnesty for Prisoners of Katrina is not onlya necessary step to rectify injustices, but also how amnesty has been used historically and is anappropriate remedy under International Human Rights treaties signed by the United States. In
Post-Katrina New Orleans, amnesty is a logical solution to minimize the long-term consequences for the “Prisoners of Katrina”. Further, amnesty can fundamentally change the ways in which we approach true public safety.
The Campaign is a local, state, national and international initiative dedicated to ensuring that all levels of the US government comply with its domestic and international legal obligations and norms concerning the rights and protections accorded to persons displaced by natural disaster.
Education and IDPs
Sexual and gender-based violence is one of the most pervasive violations of the rights of women and girls during armed conflict and displacement. It is often employed as a strategy of war by armed actors to gain power. Women and girls are at risk of sexual and gender-based violence in most internal displacement situations. While men and boys may also be affected, research indicates that sexual and gender-based violence predominantly affects women and girls.
This paper presents the case for education as an essential humanitarian activity, and the INEE Minimum Standards as a tool for quality and accountability within those interventions. It sets out the preliminary implementation experience of the Minimum Standards, with a focus on pilot research in Uganda and Darfur; examines the lessons learned from having a Minimum Standards focal point in Pakistan; and presents key lessons learned to guide the provision of education in emergencies.
This document has three main parts: the first sets out the general policy framework in which UNHCR’s education strategy is embedded; the second outlines the main challenges for providing refugee children with access to quality education and safe learning environments; and the last part defines UNHCR’s strategy for addressing these challenges. Annex I presents a matrix showing activities and expected outcomes; and Annex II lists UNHCR’s Education Policy Commitments.
West Point Classes Focus on War Ethics, by Rachel Martin, Morning Edition, May 3, 2007
Seniors at the United States Military Academy at West Point are winding up their last weeks of classes. Ethics have become an important component to the education cadets receive before heading out to their first assignments, many in Iraq or Afghanistan. "Winning the Peace" was developed three years ago as an interdisciplinary course, combining sociology, history, religion (Islam, in particular) and personal ethics. As the name suggests, it's meant to prepare soldiers for the complexities of the streets of Baghdad or the mountains of Afghanistan. A lot of the class is about posing ethical dilemmas that require cadets to go beyond standard manuals to come up with answers. Length – 05:09
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9972583
Shattered Dreams: The Struggle to Reconstruct Iraq, 55:00 minute A World of Possibilities radio program
While the White House seeks to persuade the American public that the "surge" is reducing violence and enabling Iraqis to create a self-governing democracy, Iraqi and international NGO's are struggling to make that goal a reality. We speak with aid workers, conflict mediators and development specialists as they encounter hostility playing midwife to a new democracy in the "cradle of civilization". Guests: Kasra Mofarah, Executive Coordinator NCCI, David Steele, Reconciliation Facilitator, United States Institute of Peace, Basma Al-Khateeb, IAA Project Manager for Women and Youth Programs, Ms. Hero Anwar and Nabil Al-Tikriti, Hero is the HR and Program Manager for REACH an Iraq NGO; Nabil is a US Institute of Peace Fellow, as well as an Assistant Professor for the University of Mary Washington. Produced with support from the Ford Foundation.
http://www.aworldofpossibilities.com/details.cfm?id=333
Hard Power / Soft Power: Peacebuilding at the Pentagon, 55:00 minute A World of Possibilities radio program
A landmark 2005 directive issued by the U.S. Defense Department for the first time placed post-conflict "reconstruction and stabilization" on the same level with the U.S. military's role as war-fighter. However, the implementation of this directive has led many to fear that in embracing "peacebuilding", the Pentagon is actually militarizing and commercializing it. Guests: Lisa Schirch, Professor of Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University, Col. John Agoglia, Director of the U.S. Army's Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) at Carlisle, PA, Lorelei Kelly, Policy Director for the Real Security Initiative, The White House Project, Eric Schwartz, Executive Director Connect US Fund. Produced with support from the Ford Foundation.
http://www.aworldofpossibilities.com/details.cfm?id=325
