A/HRC/19/54 provided by host families, certain groups of IDPs, such as vulnerable categories of women, children and the elderly, may be particularly at risk of a number of protection concerns, including abuse, exploitation, and sexual violence by their hosts. In this regard, this mandate has recommended the establishment of appropriate monitoring and ombudsmechanisms, and other activities such as visits by social workers, working with local associations and counselling centres, and the establishment of a hotline, in order enhance the protection of IDPs living within host-family arrangements.35 44. The establishment of emergency assistance and complementary support structures are also necessary in order to address situations when host family arrangements break down or are insufficient. In many cases, the assistance and hospitality provided by hosts may be primarily based on affiliations with some members of the family and not others (e.g. one of the spouses), so that when the nuclear IDP family disintegrates during the period of displacement, some members may have to leave and find their own solutions. In other situations, the strains of assisting and providing shelter to IDPs for prolonged periods may be such that host families may simply no longer be able to continue providing this support unassisted. In all of these situations, IDPs will in many cases need to leave the host family. Ensuring that systems are in place to support hosting arrangements, and to provide protection and assistance alternatives for IDPs who can no longer remain in these arrangements, will be vital in order to prevent the most vulnerable IDPs from having to adopt negative coping mechanisms, such as early marriage, dangerous and exploitative livelihood activities, and from living in precarious settings. 3. Role of provincial and municipal authorities 45. Since the State has the primary responsibility for protection and assistance to IDPs, a whole-of-government approach is both required and encouraged in IDP responses. However, it is provincial and municipal authorities who are often in the front line, addressing both the immediate humanitarian aspects of an IDP influx, and the longer-term pressures related to prolonged displacement and the extension of basic services to them. Yet, they frequently lack the necessary resources to meet this challenge, indicating gaps between policies decided in the capital and what is implemented locally, and complex relationships between local and national authorities and international actors working within the country. This is perhaps most acutely felt in the case of IDPs outside camps, who are less likely to benefit from alternative assistance provided by non-governmental organizations. At the same time, provincial and municipal authorities have specific responsibilities and a critical role to play in upholding the human rights of IDPs within their communities, implementing IDP-specific and community based programmes, and facilitating durable solutions, including local integration. Upholding human rights within their communities 46. On account of their direct contact with IDPs, and their immediate role in the provision of local services, and formulation of local development strategies, local authorities are often the best placed to identify and assist IDPs outside camps living in their communities. They can support IDP profiling exercises, and facilitate the replacement or acquisition of identification, residency or other documents – both important steps enabling IDPs outside camps to access the assistance, rights and benefits to which they are entitled, both as IDPs and as citizens. This assistance will enable them to benefit from national social security systems, public services and resources available to residents, and to access a series of other rights (e.g. relating to property, civil status, housing). For example, in the case of Iraq, where food security was a problem for a large part of the population, this 35 See also A/HRC/16/43/Add.5, p. 21 15