Guiding Principles: A tool for the empowerment of the internally displaced

Completed in 1998 by a team of international legal experts led by the noted Sudanese scholar, Dr Francis Deng, and under the direction of the UN Secretary-General, the Guiding Principles (GPs) represent the first international standards for internally displaced persons (IDPs). The GPs comprise 30 principles, which define the rights of IDPs and the obligation of both governments and rebel groups to protect them. At their core the GPs represent a potentially formidable tool for the empowerment of IDPs. In addition, the GPs are also meant to provide direction for UN agencies and international and nongovernmental organisations concerned with IDPs. The GPs do not involve additions or alterations to laws, but instead draw on existing laws, particularly those governing international human rights, international humanitarian law and refugee law by analogy. As Roberta Cohen, a noted scholar on the subject, has said, "What is unique about the Principles is that in addition to restating provisions of existing law, they tailor the provisions of the law to the specific needs of the internally displaced." If disseminated, understood and implemented, the GPs represent a critical tool for responding to the needs of IDPs. In the first instance they provide a framework for understanding the problem of IDPs, by the IDPs themselves and by those organisations and individuals who have taken up their concerns. In particular, the GPs make it clear to IDPs that they have the same rights as other citizens, and that these rights have not been lost because of their displacement. The GPs also make it clear that national authorities have obligations to IDPs. For example, the GPs assert that IDPs have the right to request and receive protection and humanitarian assistance from national authorities. The GPs further speak of the right of IDPs to participate in planning and distributing supplies and in managing their return home and reintegration. Knowledge of rights in this case is very clearly a first step in acquiring power. Related to this, the GPs serve as a basis upon which conditions in countries can be monitored and assessed. The Representative of the Secretary-General on IDPs, Dr Francis Deng, regularly visits countries affected by this problem, and provides written reports on his findings to the UN Commission on Human Rights. And this is increasingly being done by international, regional, and nongovernmental organisations. Moreover, the GPs ascribe to the IDPs the right to take up this task, thereby challenging their status as victims. It is agreed that the GPs can serve as a basis upon which to pursue advocacy on the part of both the IDPs and supportive organisations. While destitute IDPs may not be in a position to pursue advocacy, they do have this right, and in more favourable circumstances it can be exercised. However, as one expert told IRIN: "More often, the advocacy role will be taken up by human rights and other organisations, but they in turn must be aware of the concerns of the IDPs and endeavour to involve them in the process, and when that is not possible to keep them informed of the efforts on their behalf". In this respect, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Brookings Institution have published a "Handbook for Applying the Guiding Principles", which details the kinds of steps that can be taken to provide and improve protection for IDPs (a copy of the Handbook is provided under the "Key Documents" section of this web special). The GPs make it clear that IDPs not only need to have their basic needs fulfilled but also have the right to protection, and that there is a need to create a framework for developing protection strategies. Important though this right is, there is as yet no international consensus on who should undertake protection activities in support of the response strategies. Instead, what has emerged is a collaborative approach on the part of the UN agencies, with the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator assuming the lead role. The GPs are a valuable contribution to both understanding the phenomenon of IDPs, and of articulating their rights, and from this basis they can serve as a means in the pursuit of empowering the IDPs. But the GPs do not give people new rights, and they do not provide means by which these rights can be achieved. According to Cohen, "the United Nations has not fully focused on the importance of empowering local displaced communities", and recommends that the international community "reinforce their capacities and help provide them with the tools they can use to help themselves". Ultimately, the GPs are only a tool which can be used by the politically weak to challenge the politically powerful, but in such an unequal contest every instrument is a valuable instrument.