Skip Navigation


Journal of Refugee Studies Advance Access originally published online on May 23, 2009
Journal of Refugee Studies 2009 22(2):155-176; doi:10.1093/jrs/fep011
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
22/2/155    most recent
fep011v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Abebe, A. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author [2009]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Legal and Institutional Dimensions of Protecting and Assisting Internally Displaced Persons in Africa

Allehone Mulugeta Abebe1

Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Permanent Mission of Ethiopia, Rue de Moillebeau 56, Case postale 338, 1211 Genève 19, Switzerland; Faculty of Law, University of Bern, Hochschulstrasse 4, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland

allehone{at}gmail.com

Owing partly to changes at the international level and to humanitarian reform within the UN, an internationalization of the problem of internal displacement is now a reality and organizations such as UNHCR are operationally involved in providing assistance and protection to internally displaced persons (IDPs). Regional institutions including peacekeeping and peace building arrangements have become vital institutional responses. Relevant literature and policy guidelines may well be faulted for ignoring the role of regional organizations. In Africa, where a disproportionate number of IDPs are present, strengthening these mechanisms is urgent. This paper traces the normative and institutional evolution of the regional response to internal displacement in Africa, and argues that institution building and consolidation of standards should be made a priority. The African Union's current effort to craft the first ever binding regional IDP convention, though a salutary development, should not deflect such priority.

Key Words: AU draft IDP convention • Great Lakes IDP Protocol • Internally Displaced Persons • humanitarian assistance • regionalism

MS received June 1, 2008 ; revised MS received October 1, 2008
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.