Preamble

We, heads of State and government of the Member States of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region;

Considering our Declaration on Peace, Security, Democracy and Development in the Great Lakes Region adopted and signed on 20^th November 2004 in Dar-es-Salaam;

Reaffirming our commitment to the implementation of the terms of the said Dar-es-Salaam Declaration on behalf of their peoples;

Recalling specifically its Article 58 under which we committed ourselves to ”respect and use the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement as proposed by the UN Secretariat, harmonize all the relevant pieces of legislation and define a national and regional framework for the monitoring and follow-up of the standards contained therein and which relate to the access and protection of disaster victims, internally displaced persons, women and children who are victims of conflicts” ;

Conscious of the call made by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2005 for the Member States of the United Nations to accept the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement as the basic international norm for protecting internally displaced persons, and to commit themselves to promote the adoption of these principles through national legislation;

Noting the recognition of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement as an important international framework for the protection of internally displaced persons by the United Nations Member States at the end of the United Nations Summit of September 2005;

Deeply concerned that the magnitude of the phenomenon of internal displacement is continuing on such a large scale that it is necessary to address the plight of internally displaced persons and to eliminate the root causes of their displacement in the Great Lakes Region;

Mindful that there is no specific coherent international or regional legal regime and institution mandated to provide protection and assistance to internally displaced persons;

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