A/70/334
practices in governance structures put in place to assist internally displaced persons
in emergency situations.
1.
Designation of a national institutional focal point
55. The response by national authorities to internal displacement would benefit
from the appointment or establishment of an institutional focal point to take the lead
in coordinating responses to internal displacement. Such a focal point could take the
form of a dedicated ministry, department, agency or other expert body and would
have the authority to oversee the national and local responses, supervise all efforts
and ensure coordination with relevant authorities while avoiding duplication.
Establishing the focal point at the most senior level, for example under the Office of
the President or Prime Minister, would give the necessary authority, resources and
political weight to its activities.
56. States that have ratified the Kampala Convention are explicitly required, under
article 3, to designate an authority or body, where needed, responsible for
coordinating activities aimed at protecting and assisting internally displaced persons
and assign responsibilities to appropriate organs for protection and assistance, and
for cooperating with relevant international organizations or agencies, and civil
society organizations, where no such authority or body exists.
57. The Special Rapporteur notes that the lack of such an institutional focal point
has a direct impact on the response of national authorities to the displacement crisis,
ultimately affecting the internally displaced persons themselves. Duplication of
tasks, lack of communication between different bodies and the lack of a common
understanding of who is doing what and where could severely und ermine collective
efforts to respond to the situation. As the central body under which all other bodies
and agencies operate, the focal point has a holistic view of the response and can
ensure smooth management of a crisis which can quickly become overwhel ming
when no coordination mechanism exists.
58. The governmental focal point could be responsible for co -chairing an
inter-agency or inter-ministerial committee on internal displacement issues to
ensure that the specific needs and rights of internally displaced persons are included
in the sectoral laws, policies, plans and programmes of relevant ministries at the
national and local levels. As the official voice of the Government on displacement
issues, the institutional focal point would also be the key interlocutor with the
international community and other stakeholders and would participate in relevant
meetings of international agencies.
59. In Kenya, the Ministry of State for Special Programmes was designated as the
institutional focal point responsible for internal displacement issues, including the
resettlement of internally displaced persons and the coordination of disast er risk
reduction programmes during the 2007/08 post-election violence. However, on his
follow-up mission to Kenya in June 2014, the Special Rapporteur found that the
Ministry of Devolution had been established instead as the institutional focal point
for internally displaced persons under the new Constitution of 2010 while the
former Ministry of State for Special Programmes became the Department of Social
Programmes within the Ministry of Devolution.
60. The role of the focal point could also include developing a consolidated
information management system to coordinate the collection of relevant information
16/26
15-12504
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