On October 23, member states of the African Union adopted a new “Convention on the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons.” Based in large part on the UN’s Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, it is the first region-wide treaty on this topic.
Like the Guiding Principles, the new Convention includes in its scope persons displaced by natural disasters. It also has a number of provisions of particular relevance to preventing displacement by disasters and to ensure the assistance of those affected by disasters that do occur
These include specific duties to implement disaster risk reduction measures and early warning systems. States are also committed to facilitate “rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance” to displaced persons.
The IDRL Guidelines may prove useful to states as a means to implement the latter requirement, particularly since the Convention requires states to incorporate their obligations under its provisions into domestic law. The Convention will enter into force once it has been ratified by 15 AU member states.