IRIN Web Special on Internal Displacement

Advocacy

Because of the number and varying responsibilities of the institutions that take up the concerns of the internally displaced they will be challenged to act in a concerted manner to resolve the political problems of the IDPs, and in addition there is a major role to be played in the only slightly less contentious area of advocacy. As Roberta Cohen and Francis Deng pointed out in their book, "The Forsaken People", "UN personnel acted as if the most, and sometimes the only, essential undertaking was the delivery of relief goods."

Providing basic necessities is critical, but does not usually raise political concerns, whereas direct engagement in protection and advocacy on behalf of the IDPs frequently does raise the political temperature. UN agencies that largely perceive their roles in operational terms may well feel discomfort when entering the political realm, but, as the case of the Rwandan IDPs demonstrated, in the context of genocide, what was most needed was not food, but forceful advocacy and on-the-ground protection.

According to Young, timidity may be the greatest concern here, but, as the GPs gain ever-greater legitimacy, they become a most valued instrument from which to launch appeals, carry out educational programming, and directly challenge offending governments.

Institutional arrangements

Not always clear is the issue of which agencies in the UN network have responsibilities towards IDPs and their rights. As a result, according to David Korn in his book, "Exodus within Borders", "Selectivity has been a major shortcoming of the UN humanitarian response system" to IDPs. Because of such problems former US Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke argued that dispersal of responsibility was a major weakness of the present regime, and forcefully advocated in favour of the UNHCR assuming the lead role.

His advocacy speech to the Security Council in January 2000 was based on a visit to Angola, where he found international neglect of IDPs, poor coordination, and the refusal of some organisations to provide protection. Although there is still no agreement on the proposals made by Holbrooke, they have stimulated expressions of support, debate, advocacy for organisations other than UNHCR to assume the responsibility of lead agency, rejection of the concept of a lead agency, and efforts by OCHA to provide more effective coordination and give more attention to the protection of IDPs.

Whereas the UNHCR with its clearly related long experience with refugees would seem a realistic candidate for the role of global lead agency, Young points out that it has not always been sympathetic to the proposal, and that some think that it involves a mandate spread that would weaken its capacity. The former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Mrs. Sadako Ogata, during a seminar organised by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on March 2, 2000 was quoted as questioning whether there was political support for the proposal [see : www.ceip.org/Programs/migrat/IDPbrief.htm].

Others have challenged the entire idea of a lead agency dominating a particular sphere that clearly involves a number of agencies. Yet others, such as Shep Lowman of Refugees International, argued that, given the primacy of concerns of the human rights of IDPs, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and not the UNHCR, be appointed the lead agency. Then there have been those who have proposed that the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF - because of its focus on women and children - to be the right candidate for the job.

Meanwhile, according to participants at the Carnegie Endowment seminar there are at least three major obstacles to the formation of any lead agency responsible for IDPs: first, a lack of finances, second, a lack of expertise, and lastly, a forceful engagement by such an agency would again raise concerns about national sovereignty.

Another and related problem is that of coordination between the involved agencies. The approach now instituted to deal with this problem involves the collaborative engagement of a number of UN agencies working through the OCHA-hosted IDP Unit in Geneva.

The main role of the IDP Unit is to assist the the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) in discharging his function to coordinate an effective response to the needs of IDPs worldwide. The Unit aims to support field response in IDP crises, as implemented by IASC members and OCHA under the leadership of Resident and Humanitarian Coordinators, in the context of an inter-agency collaborative approach. Using the Guiding Principles and the policy guidelines developed by the IASC as the overall normative and institutional frameworks, the Unit relies on its inter-agency  nature to bring closer together operational partners and enhance the response of the international community on behalf of IDPs.

PART IV