This Handbook aims to provide legal and operational guidance to human rights, humanitarian and development actors involved in protection efforts on behalf of internally displaced people and other affected populations in complex emergencies. The guidance given could prove equally useful for broader protection efforts in other humanitarian settings.

This provisional edition is the result of a collaborative inter-agency effort involving more than 25 human rights, humanitarian and development agencies and organizations. It is intended for consultations and field-testing during 2008, with a final version scheduled for release in 2009.

Please send any comments and suggestions you may have to: E-mail HQIDPHB.

• Cover and Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations
• Table of Contents
• Introduction



• Part I: Foundations of IDP Protection
• Chapter 1: The Fundamentals of Protection
• Chapter 2: The Legal Framework
• Chapter 3: The International Institutional Framework
• Part II: Attitudes and Skills
• Chapter 1: Attitudes
• Chapter 2: Skills
• Chapter 3: Working with Military Actors
• References for Part II
• Part III: Building a Strategic Protection Response
• Overview
• Chapter 1: Situational Analysis
• Chapter 2: Developing the Stragegy
• Chapter 3: Monitoring and Evaluating the Strategy
• Part IV: Activities and Tools for Protection (Guidance Notes)
•  Overview
•  1. Protection Monitoring
•  2. Humanitarian Access and Presence
•  3. Advocacy
•  4. Capacity-building
•  5. Legal Assistance
•  6. Disseminating Information
•  7. Humanitarian Assistance
•  8. Profiling Internally Displaced Persons
•  9. Humanitarian Evacuations
• 10. Community Mobilization
• 11. Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
• 12. Coordination and Management of Camps and Other
        Collective Settings
• Part V: Protection Risks: Prevention, Mitigation and Response (Action Sheets)
•  Overview
•  1. Forced and Unlawful Displacement
•  2. Civil Status and the Prevention of Statelessness
•  3. Life, Safety and Security
•  4. Gender-based Violence
•  5. Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups
•  6. Mines and Explosive Remnants of War
•  7. Human Trafficking
•  8. Liberty and Freedom of Movement
•  9. Family Unity
• 10. Access to Justice
• 11. Land and Property
• 12. Political Participation and the Right to Vote
• 13. Shelter
• 14. HIV
• 15. Health
• 16. Livelihoods
• 17. Education
• 18. Food Aid and Nutrition
• 19. Water and Sanitation
• Part VI: Durable Solutions



• Annexes
• Annex 1: Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement
• Annex 2: When Displacement Ends: A Framework for Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons