A/HRC/19/54 21. The following report is intended as a contribution by the Special Rapporteur towards a larger process which will require consultations and the continued engagement of a broad range of stakeholders. It highlights why IDPs outside camps require specific interventions by national authorities, humanitarian and development actors, and details 3 specific areas of focus, namely, IDPs in urban contexts, host communities, and the role of provincial and municipal authorities. This report is also in follow-up to previous work by the mandate on the issue, including: reports to the Human Rights Council which identify this as a key challenge in the field of internal displacement and a priority area for the mandate;7 steps bringing it to the attention of the wider humanitarian community via the IASC;8 and specific attention to the issue in the context of country visits by the mandate. Several other areas of special relevance to IDPs outside camps are also mentioned in this report, such as data collection, and suggested for attention by relevant actors. 22. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges that several other aspects relating to IDPs outside camps may also need attention or require more specific analysis than is provided in this initial contribution, including assistance to IDPs living in rural or isolated settings, and possible distinctions between natural disaster, conflict and complex emergency situations. He further acknowledges the valuable comments made in the course of previous consultations, including discussions within the IASC in July 2010, during which both substantive and process issues were raised on how to achieve a more equitable humanitarian response to IDPs outside camps. 9 These point to the range and complexity of the issues and the need for an ongoing process of developing expertise and enhanced operational response by all concerned actors. The Special Rapporteur intends to maintain close engagement with national and international stakeholders on all of these issues, in addition to the particular aspects addressed in the present report. Overview of the current situation 23. An estimated 27.5 million people in the world today remain displaced within their own countries due to armed conflict, generalized violence and human rights violations. 10 An additional 42 million were internally displaced due to sudden-onset natural disasters in the course of 2010.11 It is estimated that only a minority of these live in camp-like settings.12 Although camps have their own particular disadvantages (e.g. isolation from the community, dependency on external assistance) it has generally been considered easier to provide assistance to IDPs living in collective settlements than to those dispersed throughout the population. The former are more visible to authorities, easier to distinguish from the local population, and delivery of services is rendered logistically simpler than when communities are dispersed. In the case of persons displaced due to generalised violence and armed conflict, it has been found that “in countries where IDPs were living in both gathered and dispersed settings, national authorities and humanitarian actors were twice as likely to provide assistance and protection to IDPs in gathered settings than to those in dispersed settings”.13 24. Numerous guidance tools and coordination structures to respond to the needs of IDPs living in camps, such as the Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster, have 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 8 A/HRC/16/43; A/HRC/13/21. IASC, 7th Working Group Meeting. IASC, minutes of the discussion at the IASC 7th Working Group Meeting, on „Internally Displaced Persons Outside Camps‟, WO/1006/3492/7. IDMC, Internal Displacement, p. 13. IDMC, Displacement due to natural hazard-induced disasters: Global estimates for 2009 and 2010, June 2011, p.4. IASC, WO/1006/3492/7, paras. 4, 5, 7. IDMC, Internal Displacement, p. 13.