CONCEPT NOTE AND ROADMAP FRAMEWORK ON THE THEME OF THE YEAR: “REFUGEES, RETURNEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS: TOWARDS DURABLE SOLUTIONS TO FORCED DISPLACEMENT IN AFRICA”
In the framework of the long-term vision encapsulated in Agenda 2063 the African Union’s (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government adopted a Common African Position on Humanitarian Effectiveness (CAP) and called for a tenyear period of transformation to strengthen humanitarian action on the continent (Decision 604 (XXVI)). The CAP defines Africa’s new humanitarian architecture, which includes the creation of the African Humanitarian Agency as a vehicle for Africa’s humanitarian action. The new humanitarian architecture also emphasizes addressing root causes and achieving durable solutions, as well as bolstering the capacity of States and other stakeholders to tackle the challenges of forced displacement on the continent.
In this context, the AU will mark the theme of the year focusing on refugees,
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and returnees. It will also commemorates the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (OAU Refugee Convention) as well as the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the 2009 AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa ( the Kampala Convention) in 2019. At its 29th Assembly in July 2017, the AU’s Executive Council called on the Union to declare 2019 the Year of Refugees, Returnees and IDPs, and called on the AU to work with the Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations, UNHCR and others to organize a series of commemorative events ‘that will bring global visibility to forced displacements in Africa’ (Decision 968 (XXXI)).
In July 2018, at Nouakchott, Mauritania, AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union adopted Decision AU/Dec.707(XXXI) declared 2019 as “the Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa.”