page_title: Kampala Convention
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Kampala Convention / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Residents stand outside of their homes at an IDP camp in Kismayo, Somalia, submerged by floods on June 4. As many as 350 families were affected by the heavy rains in the region, which it is feared may lead the outbreak of disease. AMISOM Photo / Mahamud Hassan
context_page_description: The Kampala Convention is a treaty of the African Union that addresses internal displacement caused by armed conflict, natural disasters and large-scale development projects in Africa.
  Large populations of internally displaced persons have existed and continue to exist in Africa, and these are due to many causes, the most prominent being violence, environmental factors, development and social conflict.
  Adoption of the official text and content approbation and adoption by the AU was performed in 2009. In 2012, 15 member states ratified the Convention— marking formal adoption by the AU. Since that time 30 of now-55 member states have ratified the Convention, with many others on having ratified, being on track to do so, or expressing interest in doing so.
  Despite its progress, the African continent's IDP populations continue to be high— accounting for a third of the global IDP population. Critics, scholars, and international organizations point to less-than-substantial emphasis of effective implementation by ratifying states. Consideration of special populations and women has also been called for by these groups.
context_section_description: The situation and presence of internally displaced persons (IDPs) is not a recent occurrence in human history, but rather due to societal factors gained a larger audience after the Cold War.  The experience and protection of internally displaced persons varies widely from those groups and individuals deemed refugees. In contrast to refugees, IDPs do not receive support from the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), and there is no comparable agency that accommodates the needs of these individuals.  
  Many past forced migration organization efforts in Africa and internationally substantially influenced the Kampala Convention— including the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa and the 1998 Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement developed by the United Nations.  The Guiding Principles have inspired and guided similarly focused regulations crafted by entities at the regional and national levels worldwide. These remain the major framework for protection of internally displaced persons globally.  
  In 2011, prior to the signing of this treaty, close to 10 million people were estimated to be internally displaced persons across sub-Saharan Africa. This number represented over half of the population of internally displaced persons in the World with the largest number in 2011 residing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Several states within the African continent, including Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Somalia, are among the five nations with the largest displacement situations globally.  Specifically, the Darfur region of Sudan was of special interest in the consideration of the situation of internally displaced persons in that region of Africa.  
  The primary factor that most of these displacement situations can be attributed to is violence, which can further be related to histories of colonialism, external intervention, and social and physical conflicts within states.  
  Development is one of the rising factors contributing to internal displacement within the African region— being attributable to more of the situations of internal displacement than war. In 2012, the number of displaced individuals was greater than the refugee global total.  Additionally, internally displaced persons are very often subject to increased influence by militia or armed forces groups. 
  Environmental factors, and their impact on human populations, are particularly pronounced in Africa, although it is the area of the World with the least contribution to anthropogenic climate change.  Natural disasters have displaced more and more numbers of individuals every year. It was estimated that approximately 1 million individuals were displaced by natural disasters and occurrences in 2009— and close to 2 million were displaced the following year. The plight of individuals displaced by natural disaster is most greatly emphasized in the Horn of Africa.  Drought is of particular concern. In Somalia alone, an estimated one and a half million individuals were displaced from their homes in 2011 due to drought.  In 2012, it was estimated that over eight million people were newly displaced in Africa due to natural disasters. 
  Close to six after the adoption of the Kampala Convention, in 2018, it was estimated that 16.7 million IDPs still existed in Africa— accounting for close to one-third of IDPs globally, a number estimated at that time to be approximately 40 million. Globally, the number of IDPs has been on the rise in recent years— doubling in the period from 2009–2018.
caption: Children are photographed outside their flooded makeshift home in Kismayo, Somalia, in 2014. Environmental factors and anthropogenic climate change have significantly altered the lives of IDPs in Africa.
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