Synopsis Report - On the ECOWAS/UNCHR Study on Responsibility to Respond to Internal Displacement in the ECOWAS Region: Case Studies of Cote D’Ivoire, Liberia and Nigeria

National authorities have primary responsibility to prevent internal displacement, and provide protection and humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) within their jurisdictions. In dealing with internal displacement, governments often face difficult challenges and questions: What are the most effective ways to address internal displacement? What is the relevant normative framework? What constitutes a durable solution? What role should national, regional and international institutions/ humanitarian actors play?This study seeks to shed light on how and to what extent the fundamental responsibility of governments toward IDPs is translated into effective response by three ECOWAS Member States studied by using the twelve benchmarks of the Framework for National Responsibility as an assessment tool. In chapter one, the study provides for the contextual background analysis of the complex causes and constrained national responses to the phenomenon of internal displacement in the ECOWAS region; establishes the compatibility of the twelve benchmarks with the AU Kampala Convention on IDPs and the ECOWAS Humanitarian Policy/Plan of Action; and identifies major pointers pertaining to recent trends in addressing internal displacement in West Africa.Chapter two of this study underscores the significant nexus between the concepts of state sovereignty and national responsibility to protect and clarifies the following: i. That there is no transfer or dilution of state sovereignty. However, there is a necessary re-characterization involved: from sovereignty as control to sovereignty as responsibility in both internal functions and external obligations; ii. The provisions of the AU Kampala Convention on State Sovereignty are in line with the concept of the ‘responsibility to protect’ that was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2005, and which developed in large measure from efforts to design an international system to protect IDPs; iii. The rationale behind adopting for this study a model based on the Framework for National Responsibility developed in 2005 by the Brookings Institution-University of Bern Project on Internal Displacement, which spells out the twelve benchmarks of national responsibility.