Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, in the North East have called on the Federal Government to take necessary steps to ameliorate the sufferings of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country.
They made the call, Tuesday, at the end of a symposium facilitated by the Norwegian Refugees Council, NRC, in Abuja.
The CSOs stated that the welfare needs of IDPs would be addressed by the government’s domestication of the Kampala Convention, which it signed and ratified in 2016 and renewed in 2019.
“The Federal Government has been trying its best. Of course, we know resources are scarce but we are mindful of the fact that there is more that needs to be done. Currently, the IDPs are treated out of sympathy but with the domestication of the Kampala Convention, we will know that their protection and welfare is guaranteed by law,” Dauda Balami, the convener of Concern for Women and Children Development Foundation, said.
NRC’s advocacy manager, Hilde Jorgensen, said: “The Kampala Convention is a legal framework that protects the rights of IDPs. What we see in Nigeria is that the government has signed and ratified the convention but it’s not possible to use it unless it is domesticated into law.”
The representatives of the CSOs, who attended the Norwegian Refugee Council protection symposium in Yola, Adamawa State, said in a communiqué: “We call for the rapid implementation of the Abuja Action Statement on Protection, agreed and signed by the Government of Nigeria in 2016, and renewed in 2019; most especially the critical action of domestication and implementation of the Kampala Convention. We also call on all actors to work together to raise awareness and educate IDPs on their rights and how to stand up for these rights.”
