The Fifth Annual Course on the Law of Internal Displacement
6-13 June 2009

Washington, DC, 30 June 2009—The Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement successfully convened the Fifth Annual course on the Law of Internal Displacement from 6-13 June 2009 in Sanremo, Italy. The course was organized by the Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (RSG), the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in cooperation with the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL).

The five-day course was designed for government officials and NGO representatives from countries affected by internal displacement and who work directly on these issues. In total, 17 national, regional, and NGO participants attended the course, representing Bosnia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Iraq, Kosovo, Kenya, Mexico, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Timor Leste, the African Union, and the Secretariat of the Great Lakes Conference.

In addition, representatives from OHCHR, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Department for International Development (DfID), the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Swiss Federal Department for Foreign Affairs also attended. Faculty members included the RSG, as well as staff of the Brookings-Bern Project, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), OHCHR, the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) and UNHCR.

The main aims of the course were to increase understanding of the international norms underpinning the protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs); promote the use and implementation of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement; encourage governments to establish or improve legislation and policies on the protection of IDPs; and facilitate the exchange of experiences between participants regarding implementation and monitoring mechanisms.

The course included lectures, plenary discussions and presentations by participants, practical exercises, and an interactive role play. The lectures covered legal aspects of protection from, during, and after displacement. Practical exercises were carried out in small groups and required participants to work with case files to identify IDPs, their human rights, and responsible agencies for protecting and assisting them. Another exercise focused specifically on resolving property and land disputes, particularly with regards to the challenges of customary legal systems.

The course culminated with a “national hearing” role play, in which participants adopted the role of members of the government, representatives of international organizations, or civil society, and negotiated a draft law on internal displacement.

By the end of the course, participants were able to identify the rights of IDPs as well as the corresponding obligations of governments and other actors; identify policy gaps and needs for an appropriate national response to situations of internal displacement; conceptualize and propose national mechanisms for both the implementation of protection strategies and monitoring; and draft a national action plan for legislation and policy implementation.