From Responsibility to Response: Assessing National - Brookings

Benchmark 6
Develop a National Policy on Internal
Displacement
Benchmark 6 Develop a National Policy on Internal Displacement
Has the national government adopted a
policy or plan of action to address internal
displacement?
While legislative action on internal displacement, as addressed
in Benchmark 5, is encouraged, laws alone are
usually insufficient to meet the needs of IDPs. Legislation
should therefore be accompanied by national policies,
strategies, or plans of action that support timely responses
to internal displacement crises through measures requiring
neither legal amendment nor the passage of new
legislation. Such measures may be appropriate in lieu of
formal legislation, or they may be used to elaborate and
implement legislation already adopted.
While the content of policies or strategies will vary depending
on the cause and phase of displacement, they
should uphold and reflect the Guiding Principles on
Internal Displacement and provide a clear overall framework
for organizing the response to internal displacement.
In particular, such policies or strategies should
—be based on and consistent with relevant
international, regional and national legal standards,
while identifying priorities for drafting
and amending national legislation to ensure
compatibility with international and regional
standards
—identify priority objectives and planned actions
by the government for addressing internal
displacement and indicate the timeline for
doing so, which should be further detailed in
a plan of action for implementing the policy or
strategy
—specify the responsibilities of national and
local government departments or agencies for
implementation of policy
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—designate, or reconfirm, an institutional focal
point for national coordination of the response
to displacement and thus for overseeing and
coordinating implementation of the national
policy or strategy
—specify the source of funds to be used for
implementation
—indicate measures for periodic review and,
as necessary, revision of the national policy or
strategy and plan of action.
A comprehensive national policy on internal displacement
should encompass the various causes of displacement
and address all phases of displacement, including
actions to prevent arbitrary displacement, to ensure
protection and assistance during displacement and to
secure durable solutions to displacement. It should also
address the needs of specific groups, such as children or
indigenous groups.
National policies or strategies are more effective when
developed in consultation with IDPs and civil society
actors. However, the findings of this study suggest that
notwithstanding a few notable exceptions, meaningful
consultation with IDPs in the policy development process
rarely has been implemented in any systematic way.
In addition, there are several cases in which dissemination
of such policies has been limited, not only to IDPs
but also in many cases to government officials, especially
at the local level, who have responsibilities related
to the implementation of these policies.
Overview of research findings
Nine of the countries surveyed had developed at some
point a specific policy, strategy or plan on internal
displacement: Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, Iraq,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkey and Uganda. In
Pakistan and Turkey, the policy is a regional, not a national,
policy; in both of these cases, the development