May

27
1999

9:00 am EDT - 5:00 pm EDT

Past Event

Internal Displacement in Colombia: Implementing the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement

Thursday, May 27, 1999

9:00 am - 5:00 pm EDT


The Guiding Principles constitute the first international standards specifically tailored to the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs), encompassing prevention, protection and assistance, return, reintegration and development.1 This workshop is jointly convened by the Brookings Institution Project on Internal Displacement, the Grupo de Apoyo a Organizaciones de Desplazados (GAD), (Bogota)2, and the U.S. Committee for Refugees.

This workshop seeks to disseminate and promote the Guiding Principles in Colombia as well as discuss the degree to which the Principles are currently being applied. Representatives of the Colombian Government, United Nations agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), national and international NGOs, the Catholic Church, and representatives of IDP communities have been invited to discuss the implementation of the Guiding Principles.

The Project would also like to express its gratitude to Bjorn Pettersson for preparing the English summary of the Spanish report of the Workshop. The Spanish report of the workshop, Memorias: Seminario de Divulgacion en Colombia de los Principios Rectores de los Desplazamientos Internos (1999), contains the transcript of the workshop together with a comprehensive summary , totals 310 pages and was compiled by Juan Manuel Bustillo and Carlos Huerta.


1 The Guiding Principles are contained in UN Document E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2

2 The GAD (The Support Group for Organizations of Internally Displaced Persons), is a coalition of 13 Colombian human rights NGOs working with displaced populations.