The Reuters report on the signing of The new African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa reported that it is “the first legal instrument of its kind in the world. It defines the obligations that states, and even armed groups, have to protect and assist their own uprooted citizens.”

Forty-six African nations unanimously adopted the landmark convention while 17 heads of state and government, and foreign ministers signed it, including the presidents of Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Somalia, and the prime ministers and vice presidents of Burundi, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Rwanda.

However, before it can come into effect the convention will need to be ratified by a minimum of 15 countries.  And there have to be question marks over the capacity of African governments to enforce the Convention, even once it is ratified, let alone police the application of its provisions by the many armed groups that are active within the continent.

The AU reported in the course of the meeting last week that the continent had more than 11 million IDPs, a much higher number than that reported by the UNHCR.

Let us hope that this Convention is ratified rapidly not just by the minimum 15 countries but by all 46 signatories and that it then works on the ground to protect some of the most vulnerable people in Africa.

For example, Sudan has an estimated 4-5 million IDPs, thanks to the recent civil war in the south, and violence in Darfur and the east.

And at the peak of Uganda’s northern conflict, at least 1.8 million people were displaced, although most have now returned home.  But there are still nearly 500,000 displaced people there, down from 710,000 earlier in the year.

Other highlights (if you can call them that) of this report:
•    1.3 million displaced by violence in Somalia
•    2 million displaced in the Eastern DRC by the violence and civil war there
•    100,000 displaced in the Central African Republic
•    168,000 displaced in Chad

Overall, it’s a terrifying number and, as the report points out, IDPs do not have the same rights as refugees (who have crossed international boundaries) and this makes their situation worse and the problem much harder for aid and UN agencies to deal with.