Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 5 September 2019: More than 100 delegates drawn from African states’ ambassadors to the African Union and representatives of African National Human Rights Institutions, Civil Society Organizations and Development Partners are gathered in Addis Ababa for the Annual Policy Forum on the State of National Human Rights Institutions in Africa. The Forum is focusing on the theme durable and sustainable solutions to forced displacements in Africa. 

The Forum is organized jointly by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI) in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The Forum taking place on September 5-6, 2019 also includes participation of international human rights experts. 
The Forum is expected to develop and adopt a continental action plan on the contribution of NHRI’ to durable solutions on forced displacements in Africa.

This is the Third Policy Forum since its inception in 2017 and is organized in line with the 2019 theme of the African Union - “Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa” 

The Forum is happening against a background of forced displacements in Africa. The continent hosts over a third of the world’s forcibly displaced persons.  This includes 6.3 million refugees and 14.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). 

On the immediate response, the NHRIs, relevant government agencies, CSOs, development partners, among others, are expected to collaborate with other human rights actors in offering humanitarian support to mitigate the effects of the displacements. This may include food, clean and safe drinking water, health services, shelter and psychological interventions. 

In the long-term, the action plan will take into account the sustainable solutions of mitigating natural and man-made triggers of the forced displacements.

One of such ways is coming up with a comprehensive national early warning system (EWS), which will involve establishment of short-term and long-term mechanisms of dealing with violent conflicts such as fight for the control of resource and disputed elections as well as environmental factors. 
 
Among the sustainable solutions is the establishment of a national comprehensive alternative conflict resolution and peace-building mechanism with the support of legal and policy frameworks for resettlement, retributions and restitution. To put the victims to full recovery path, they must be put back to their earlier social, economic and cultural status. 

Note to editors:
This joint activity is one of the events carried out this year in line with the 2019 theme of the African Union: “Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa’’.

The Policy Forum is an AU-NANHRI annual event held on a jointly agreed theme aimed at enhancing the capacity of NHRIs in promoting, protecting and advocating for human rights at national level. It is implanted under the African Union Commission-Network of African National Human Rights Institutions’ memorandum of understanding signed in 2016, providing a platform for a structured working together in enhancing human rights culture in Africa. 

African Union Commission (AUC)  | Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI)

For media enquires contact: 
Mrs. Esther Azaa Tankou, Head of Information Division, +2519113611, e-mail YambouE@africaunion.org
Mr. Emanuel Shimbidi| Information and Communications Officer, Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission | Tel: +251 912 603 035 | E-mail: ShimbidiE@africa-union.org 
For more information, Contact:
Mr. John Ikubaje, Senior Political Officer at the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission 
Mr. Gilbert Sebihogo, Executive Director of the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI) Email: gsebihogo@nanhri.org Tel: +254710867264
Cc Mr. Robert Laban, laban@nanhri.org Tel: +254723431402