DECLARATIONS AND RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
(Provisional version pending to be revised by the Style Committee)
THIRTY-NINTH REGULAR SESSION
June 2 and 4, 2009
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
OEA/Ser.P
AG/doc.5006/09
4 June 2009
(Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 4, 2009)
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
RECALLING resolutions AG/RES.. 1971 (XXXIII-O/03), "The Protection of Refugees, Returnees, and Stateless and Internally Displaced Persons in the Americas," AG/RES.. 774 (XV-O/85), AG/RES.. 838 (XVI-O/86), AG/RES.. 951 (XVIII-O/88), AG/RES.. 1021 (XIX-O/89), AG/RES.. 1039 (XX-O/90), AG/RES.. 1040 (XX-O/90), AG/RES.. 1103 (XXI-O/91), AG/RES.. 1170 (XXII-O/92), AG/RES.. 1214 (XXIII-O/93), AG/RES.. 1273 (XXIV-O/94), AG/RES.. 1336 (XXV-O/95), AG/RES.. 1416 (XXVI-O/96), AG/RES.. 1504 (XXVII-O/97), AG/RES.. 1602 (XXVIII-O/98), AG/RES.. 1892 (XXXII-O/02), AG/RES.. 2055 (XXXIV-O/04), AG/RES.. 2140 (XXXV-O/05), AG/RES.. 2229 (XXXVI-O/06), AG/RES.. 2277 (XXXVII-O/07), and especially resolution AG/RES.. 2417 (XXXVIII-O/08), "Internally Displaced Persons";
REITERATING the principles established in the Charter of the Organization of American States and in the Inter-American Democratic Charter, especially those referred to in its Chapter III, "Democracy, Integral Development, and Combating Poverty";
RECALLING the pertinent rules of international human rights, humanitarian, and refugee law; and recognizing that the protection of internally displaced persons has been reinforced by the definition and consolidation of specific protection standards, in particular the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, prepared by the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons;
RECALLING ALSO that, according to those guiding principles, internally displaced persons are "persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border";
EMPHASIZING that the states have the primary responsibility to respect, promote, and protect the human rights of all persons within their jurisdiction, including internally displaced persons, and to provide them with adequate protection and assistance, as well as to address, as appropriate, the causes of the internal displacement problem and to do so, when required, in cooperation with the international community;
RECOGNIZING that several countries in the Hemisphere are using the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and including them in the development of national policies and strategies;
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that internal displacement affects a large number of persons, and that the needs of internally displaced persons, particularly with regard to protection and assistance, must be addressed immediately and comprehensively;
EMPHASIZING the importance of implementing effective policies for preventing and averting forced internal displacement and for protecting and assisting displaced persons during displacement and during return or resettlement and reintegration, including through the implementation of applicable international law;
UNDERSCORING that to promote enhanced protection for internally displaced persons, comprehensive strategies and lasting solutions are needed which include, among other aspects, a free and informed decision by internally displaced persons as to whether to return to their place of origin, to integrate locally in the place to which they were displaced, or to resettle elsewhere in the country; and
NOTING WITH APPRECIATION the High-Level Conference on "Ten Years of Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement - Achievements and Future Challenges," held in Oslo, Norway, on October 16 and 17, 2008, at which the document "Protecting Internally Displaced Persons: A Manual for Law and Policymakers" was presented, to provide practical guidance to national authorities in their development and enactment of domestic legislation and policies on international displacement in their countries and, as appropriate, in bringing domestic laws into line with the Guiding Principles,
RESOLVES:
1. To urge member states to include, as appropriate, in their sectoral plans, policies, and programs, the special needs of internally displaced persons, in particular the preparation of programs on prevention of the diverse causes and consequences of that displacement, including programs to foster development and fight poverty and to reduce the risk of natural disasters, in which the needs of receiving communities could be taken into account.
2. To urge member states to consider using the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, prepared by the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, which reflect certain aspects of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, as a basis for their plans, policies, and programs in support of such persons, and, in accordance with international law, in support of, inter alia, indigenous communities and communities of African descent, and the specific needs of children, women, the elderly, farm workers, and persons with disabilities, as appropriate, to consider incorporating said principles into their national laws into order to promote their implementation and accountability regarding the protection of internally displaced persons.
3. In order to avert the internal displacement of persons, to encourage member states to address the factors that cause it and to establish preventive policies, such as early warning, bearing in mind that dialogue with all the actors involved is essential to the achievement of lasting solutions.
4. To call upon member states to comply with their obligations under applicable international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and refugee law in dealing with internally displaced persons, including in the possible prevention of internal displacement.
5. To urge member states, in keeping with their responsibility to internally displaced persons, based on comprehensive strategies and from a human rights perspective, to commit to providing them with protection and assistance during displacement, through competent national institutions; and to invite member states to commit to seeking lasting solutions, including the safe, voluntary, and dignified return of internally displaced persons and their resettlement and reintegration, whether in their place of origin or in the receiving community.
6. To call upon states, in the care they provide to internally displaced persons, to protect their human rights through a comprehensive approach to disaster relief and reconstruction, consistent with international human rights law and domestic law, taking into account the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.
7. To urge states to work together by fostering the exchange of best practices for the effective protection of the human rights of internally displaced persons as well as in the development and implementation of public policy to prevent displacement, including displacement caused by natural disasters, through measures to reduce disaster risk.
8. To encourage member states, in responding to the needs of internally displaced persons, to consider the Framework for Durable Solutions for internal displacement and the Operational Guidelines on Human Rights and Natural Disasters, prepared by the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, as well as the manual for law and policymakers presented at the High-Level Conference on "Ten Years of Guiding Prinicples on Internal Displacement - Achievements and Future Challenges," and the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015.
9. To encourage the states and competent authorities to seek new and appropriate ways of providing protection and assistance to displaced persons, in keeping with the different needs of residents of urban areas, rural areas, and camps.
10. To appeal to the appropriate agencies of the United Nations and the inter-American system, and to other humanitarian organizations and the international community, to provide support and/or assistance, as requested by states, in addressing the various factors that cause internal displacement and in assisting persons affected by internal displacement at all stages, where account should be taken of the Guiding Principles on strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian emergency assistance.
11. To instruct the Permanent Council to follow up on this resolution as it sees fit.