A/71/279 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted to the General Assembly by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Chaloka Beyani, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/165. 2. Section II provides an overview of the activities of the Special Rapporteur, section III considers internal displacement in the context of the World Humanitarian Summit and its outcomes, section IV discusses key elements to prevent and reduce internal displacement and section V provides a series of c onclusions and recommendations. II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur 3. In June 2016, the Special Rapporteur submitted his final annual report (A/HRC/32/35) to the Human Rights Council providing a review of his activities and a consideration of major challenges and emerging issues in the field of internal displacement. His recommendations were welcomed by the Council in its resolution 32/11, which renewed the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for a further three years. Below he provides a summary of his activities over the reporting period. 4. The Special Rapporteur undertook an official visit to Honduras (A/HRC/32/35/Add.4) from 23 to 27 November 2015. He found that internal displacement caused by criminal gangs, known as maras, is an invisible epidemic affecting whole communities with families forced or compelled to abandon their homes. With few protection measures in Honduras, internally displaced persons may join irregular migrant routes and face exploitation from human traffickers and smugglers. They often face expedited deportation that does not take account of genuine protection concerns. The Government must strengthen legal, policy and institutional frameworks and take action to tackle the root causes of displacement, as well as provide protection and durable solutions for displaced persons. The Government undertook to draft a law on internal displacement during 2016. 5. At the time of submission of the present report, the Special Rapporteur was seeking to conduct official visits to Nigeria and Colombia to consult those Governments and other stakeholders on the situation of internally displac ed persons and progress towards achieving durable solutions for them. He had also confirmed an official visit to Afghanistan to take place in October 2016 to consult on both new and protracted displacement situations. Reports on these visits will be presen ted to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fifth session. 6. The Special Rapporteur conducted working and follow -up visits to numerous countries. He conducted working visits to the African Union in Ethiopia, and to Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda and Zambia between 17 August and 26 September 2015, in order to consult with national authorities, the United Nations and other stakeholders on progress in implementing the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention). In April 2016 he conducted working visits to Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in view of the ongoing and developing displacement situations. In August he undertook a follow -up visit to Honduras and a working visit to El Salvador to consider issues of gang violence and related 16-13413 3/25