The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 41/15 of 19 July 2019, requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to convene an intersessional seminar in order to follow up on the implementation of the Plan of Action for Advancing Prevention, Protection and Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons 2018–2020 to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. Furthermore, the Council requested OHCHR to invite States and other relevant stakeholders, including the United Nations Secretariat and relevant bodies, representatives of subregional and regional organizations, international human rights mechanisms, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations.

Background

In its 2017 resolution on IDPs, the UN General Assembly called on States, UN entities, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, regional organizations, national human rights institutions, NGOs and other stakeholders to mark the 20th anniversary in 2018 of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. The Plan of Action for Advancing Prevention, Protection and Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons 2018–2020 was launched by Austria, Honduras and Uganda, during the 20th anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement to galvanize and reinforce multi-stakeholder engagement towards reducing and resolving internal displacement through prevention, protection and solutions for internally displaced people.

The Plan acts on the General Assembly resolution’s call by bringing together stakeholders on internal displacement to work more effectively and collaboratively to promote and support the common goal of reducing and resolving displacement. The Plan of Action centres around four priority areas for strategic, coordinated and collaborative action. These include: participation of Internally Displaced Persons; national laws and policies addressing internal displacement; data and analysis on internal displacement; and addressing protracted displacement and facilitating durable solutions.

Overall, the twentieth anniversary of the Guiding Principles and the related GP20 Plan of Action has sparked more collaborative action on internal displacement at the national, regional and global level. The GP20 Initiative has established an inclusive platform dedicated to capturing best practices, sharing experiences and lessons learned on internal displacement, especially focused on national implementation, with the participation of key Member States, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, World Bank, ICRC, IFRC, the UN Special Rapporteur and other key experts. National-level action has included the development of laws on internal displacement, implementation of national GP20 Plans of Action and events to draw attention to the plight of IDPs.

Building on the experience and lessons learned from the implementation of the GP20 Plan of Action, which runs to the end of 2020, the intersessional seminar will explore further actions that might be taken by the international community to continue supporting efforts at preventing, addressing and resolving internal displacement.