Addis Ababa — African ministers in charge of forced displacement matters in the continent on Tuesday adopted an historic draft African Union Convention on the Protection and Assistance for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Africa.

The ground-breaking draft will have to be endorsed by the Special Summit of African Heads of State and Government, scheduled for April next year, to become the first ever legally binding instrument for the protection of IDPs, UNHCR said in a statement.

UNHCR's Regional Liaison Representative for Africa Mr. Ilunga Ngandu described the move as another pioneering initiative by the continental body in the direction of addressing the challenges of forced displacement in Africa.

"Almost four decades after the truly historic adoption of the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, African leaders are now in the final phase of registering another pioneering achievement by endorsing the first ever legally binding IDPs convention anywhere in the world," he was quoted as saying.

The representative expressed his agency's hope that the adoption of the draft Convention will send an important signal to the rest of the world about the seriousness with which Africa, home to around half of the global total of IDPs, considers the issue.

Of the global total of around 25 million IDPs, Africa is home to approximately 12 million of them.

Unlike refugees, who fall under the protection of international instruments such as the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, there are no comparable legally binding instruments to safeguard the rights of IDPs.

The November 10-11 Ministerial Meeting, which was preceded by two Experts Meetings, was attended by Ministers in charge of forced displacement matters representing 42 African countries out of 53.