United Nations Radio

The United Nations independent expert concerned with the rights of internally displaced people is urging the international community to support a historic African treaty to protect internally displaced people on the continent.

Walter Kaelin says the treaty, endorsed by a special summit of the African Union Heads of State in Kampala, Uganda, last Friday is historic because until now there hasn't been a binding treaty on the subject.

Mr. Kaelin, who attended the summit, notes that the numbers of internally displaced people are much higher than the 16 million refugees worldwide, including Palestinian refugees.

"We are talking about 26 million internally displaced persons just displaced by armed conflict and an unknown number, last year the estimate was 36 million displaced by the consequences of all kinds of natural disasters, a huge number of people who need protection of their rights, a huge number of people who need humanitarian assistance to address specific vulnerabilities."

The UN expert on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons says the big challenge now is implementation of the African Convention to protect displaced people.

He is calling on the international community to assist the African countries in this effort.

Bissera Kostova, UN Radio.

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