Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We are delighted to announce that the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement has become the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement. As you know, this project is a joint initiative of the Brookings Institution and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The project’s name is intended to reflect the institutional affiliation of the special rapporteur as well as the mandate’s institutional home at the Brookings Institution. The name ‘Brookings-Bern’ reflected the fact that the former Representative, Walter Kälin, was based at the University of Bern. Last fall, the UN Human Rights Council appointed Chaloka Beyani, senior lecturer in International Law of the London School of Economics, to the position of special rapporteur and following consultations between our two institutions, it was agreed to rename the project to reflect this new appointment.
While the name has changed, we want to stress the continuity of the work. The project will continue to support the mandate of the special rapporteur, to conduct cutting-edge research on issues related to internal displacement, and to encourage governments, international organizations, and civil society to uphold the rights of IDPs. IDPs are those displaced within the borders of their own countries by conflict, human rights violations, natural disasters and development projects. While there are around 15 million refugees in the world, presently there are over 50 million displaced by conflicts and natural disasters with millions more displaced by development projects.
The Brookings-LSE Project is co-directed by the two of us, and together with our staff here at Brookings and at the UN, we have developed an ambitious program of work over the next year, including research on transitional justice and displacement, the effects of displacement on host communities, and the impact of natural disasters on human rights. We will be working to support normative standards for IDPs – including the new African Union Convention on Protection and Assistance of IDPs. We will continue to work with UN and other international organizations to encourage them to incorporate programs to meet the needs of those displaced within their own borders.
Although the project has existed for less than 20 years, it has accomplished a great deal with a very small staff. The issue of IDPs is high on the international agenda and has become central to UN Security Council discussions of the protection of civilians. Some 20 governments have adopted laws and policies on internal displacement. From Haiti to Southern Sudan, there is growing recognition that the needs of IDPs must be addressed in international response to crises.
We are profoundly aware that the success of the project has been largely due to the work of our outstanding predecessors – Francis Deng and Walter Kälin from the UN side and Roberta Cohen from Brookings. We plan to continue to build on their achievements as co-directors of the newly-named Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement.
Sincerely,
Chaloka Beyani
UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of IDPs
Elizabeth Ferris
Senior Fellow
The Brookings Institution