From Responsibility to Response: Assessing National - Brookings

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CHAPTER 3 Translating National Responsibility into Response: Further Observations at least condoning the conditions that created the displacement. At the other end of the spectrum is the government of Georgia, which acknowledges and indeed draws attention to the suffering of IDPs, at least in part because of political considerations. At the same time, it could be that Georgia is keen to be portrayed as “doing the right thing” for IDPs in order to curry favor with the international community. In Colombia, concerns about the international reputation of the country appear to have motivated the government to take a number of measures on IDP issues, most notably with the adoption of a law on IDPs. At the same time, it is legal pressure resulting from close monitoring of and reporting on the government’s response by the country’s Constitutional Court as well as by the Ombudsman that has proven critical to efforts to ensure that government measures for IDPs are actually implemented. The country’s strong legal tradition has facilitated such efforts. Moreover, government policies toward IDPs are not static; they evolve in response to changes in the political context. For example, in Georgia the government became much more concerned about the “old” IDPs after “new” IDPs were created in 2008 due to the conflict with Russia in South Ossetia. However, even then, international pressure proved critical to convincing the Georgian government of the importance of adopting policies that address the needs of IDPs in protracted situations. Similarly, in the six months following the end of the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, the government was keen to demonstrate responsiveness, especially after extensive international criticism of its military operations against civilians during the final stages of the conflict and of its internment policies. Thus it moved quickly to return IDPs to their places of origin (although as the case study points out, this practice raised serious concerns). In many instances, governments undertake policies as a result of international initiatives. This study found many cases in which governments undertook actions in response to suggestions made by the Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons or his successor (RSG), the Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (RSG) 302 during missions and working visits. For example, after years of non-engagement on the issue of IDPs, the government of Turkey decided, for the first time, to collect data on the number of IDPs in the country. In several other countries, governments have decided to develop or modify IDP policies and legislation as a direct result of a visit and advocacy by the RSG. A general list of missions and working visits conducted by the RSGs and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons is provided in figure 3-1. With the above points in mind, we do not assume that assessing a government’s performance on each of the twelve benchmarks of the Framework for National Responsibility provides an accurate picture of political will. For example, a government may collect data on internal displacement, set up an institutional focal point on IDPs, adopt an IDP law or take action toward meeting many or most of the benchmarks without necessarily having the genuine political will to protect the rights of IDPs and assist them in a sustainable manner. Certain governments’ efforts in the areas covered by the benchmarks may amount to nothing more than “window dressing.” Even the indicators developed for each benchmark cannot give a complete picture of a government’s exercise of its responsibility toward IDPs. That said, it does seem that action on the benchmarks can indicate a certain degree of political will; certainly it suggests that a government is ready to acknowledge IDPs as an issue and understands that doing so raises expectations for a government response. Furthermore, taking no action on certain benchmarks—for example, Benchmark 2 on acknowledgment of the existence of internal displacement—indicates a lack of political will to take certain actions on the issue. That is in and of itself quite revealing. Using the Framework for National Responsibility as an Assessment Tool: Trends in National Response Chapter 1 examines the ways in which each of the twelve benchmarks set out in the Framework for National
CHAPTER 3 Translating National Responsibility into Response: Further Observations Figure 3-1 Special Procedures on IDPs: Missions and working visits to the 15 countries assessed in this study a Country Missions and working visits Afghanistan Working Visit: 2007 Central African Republic Working Visit: 2009; Missions: 2010, 2007 Colombia Working Visit: 2008; Missions: 2006, 1999, 1994 Democratic Republic of the Congo Mission: 2008 Georgia Working Visit: 2006; Missions: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2005, 2000 Iraq Mission: 2010 Kenya Working Visits: 2008, 2011 Myanmar N/A Nepal Mission: 2005 Pakistan N/A Sri Lanka Working Visits: 2009 (2), 2005; Missions: 2007, 1993 Sudan Missions: 2005, 2004, 2002, 2001, 1992 Turkey Working Visits: 2006, 2005; Mission: 2002 Uganda Working Visits: 2009, 2006; Mission: 2003 Yemen Working Visit: 2010 a Francis Deng, Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons (1994-2004); Walter Kälin, Representative of the UN Secretary General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (2004–2010), Chaloka Beyani, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (2010-present). See OHCHR, “Country Visits,” (www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/idp/visits. htm); Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, “Items from Chaloka Beyani,” “Items from Walter Kälin,” and “Items from Francis M. Deng,” (www.brookings.edu/projects/idp/rsg_info.aspx). Responsibility are being met—or not met—in the fifteen countries surveyed by this study. This comparative analysis has revealed certain trends for each benchmark in terms of the readiness and capacity of the included governments to mount an effective national response and in terms of the modality of response. In looking at the overall results of this analysis, it must be said that no one government performed well on all twelve of the benchmarks; conversely, most governments were taking at least some measures in line with at least some of the benchmarks, at least for certain groups of IDPs. Overall, governments performed much better on the three benchmarks on legal frameworks, policies and institutional focal points (Benchmarks 5, 6 and 7, respectively) than the others, at least with respect to taking the basic minimum actions recommended; very often, however, effective implementation was limited. 303 Overall Observations and Comparisons of Benchmarks Chapter 1 raises the question of whether certain characteristics of a particular instance of internal displacement might explain why a government proves to be more or less responsive to addressing internal displacement. By no means did the discussion provide an exhaustive list of potential determinants; it simply offered a set of hypotheses based on common and easily measurable (mostly quantitative) features of displacement, such as the number of IDPs and the length of time of displacement, and whether those features appeared to influence the government response, positively or negatively. In particular, six points were considered: different causes of displacement; magnitude of displacement; duration of displacement; where IDPs live; UNHCR engagement; and government capacity, as measured by the Human Development Index.
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The Brookings Institution - London
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From Responsibility to Response: As
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CONTENTS Acronyms .................
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ACRONYMS AIHRC Afghanistan Independ
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FOREWORD It is with great pleasure
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Given the large num
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It is a central tenet of internatio
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legislation relevant to IDPs. Still
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amend existing ones, in line with t
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Background and Aims of the Study In
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displacement persists for several y
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operationalizing the responsibiliti
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Therefore, it is not surprising tha
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Azerbaijani, Chinese, French, Portu
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National Initiatives In Iraq, IOM p
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of the country. 62 In addition, six
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in French and Spanish depending on
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serves only to supplant and absolve
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CHAPTER 1 Assessing National Approa
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Benchmark 1 Benchmark 1 Prevent Dis
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Benchmark 1 Prevent Displacement an
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Benchmark 2 Raise National Awarenes
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Conclusion Benchmark 2 Raise Nation
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Benchmark 3 Data Collection on Inte
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—Current location and location of
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its registration rolls intra-urban
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and profiling of three types of IDP
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the government of Afghanistan under
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Benchmark 4 Training on the Rights
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actions of DRC authorities and nong
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the provision of technical support
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Justice, National Cohesion and Cons
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February 2010; one outcome of the t
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Benchmark 5 Ensure a Legal Framewor
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Conclusion Benchmark 5 Ensure a Leg
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Benchmark 6 Develop a National Poli
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Benchmark 7 Designate an Institutio
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not necessarily influence such chan
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Institutional mandate and responsib
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this body include preparing “stra
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lead state agency may turn to other
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a division of functions being made
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Benchmark 8 Benchmark 8 Support NHR
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Benchmark 8 Support NHRIs to Integr
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Benchmark 9 Facilitate IDPs’ Part
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The process of participation is gen
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Georgia represents an especially in
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about the national policy. 16 Sudan
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and reinforce durable solutions. 27
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was 12 million, or 62 percent of th
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displacement. 52 In the run-up to t
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vote is by no means consistent (for
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Benchmark 10 Establish the Conditio
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Benchmark 11 Allocate Adequate Reso
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also ordered the National Council f
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In Sri Lanka, 16 it is difficult to
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Conclusion As indicated in the intr
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Benchmark 12 Cooperation with Inter
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North Darfur, Sudan/ A woman collec
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CHAPTER 2 Case Studies Georgia, Ken
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Georgia From Solidarity to Solution
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Kenya National Response to Internal
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