Chapter 3 hard-to-reach areas, reaffirmed the need to ensure that humanitarian actors place protection at the centre of their work, which UNHCR led, in support of UN Country Teams, governments and local stakeholders. At the same time, the refugee crisis in Europe in 2015 and decreases in the internally displaced population in Syria around the same time were reminders of the continuum between internal displacement and refugee outflows. The protection of displaced people and those affected by conflict became paramount as escalating and renewed conflict also affected the Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Mali and Nigeria, with UNHCR engaged in operational response and coordination leadership. The conflict in Iraq, including the fall of Mosul, led to large-scale displacement and acute protection needs, particularly for ethnic and religious minorities, such as the Yazidis and presented challenges of a massive scale. In some countries, large-scale displacement was offset by a relatively large number of IDPs returning to their places of origin. In countries where UNHCR was operationally active, an estimated 31 million or more internally displaced persons were able to return or find a solution during the decade, although many more continued to live in protracted displacement. The largest IDP return movements between 2010 and 2019 took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Iraq, presenting some of the largest UNHCR operations globally. In the DRC, more than six million people returned to their place of residence, one third of them during 2018 and 2019. In Iraq, more than five million IDPs returned to their place of residence during the decade, some 85 per cent of them in the past four years. 32 between humanitarian, development and peacebuilding actors and to live up to the pledge in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to ‘leave no one behind’, including IDPs. Throughout the decade, UNHCR worked to find solutions for IDPs, building upon its experience in facilitating solutions for refugees and within the IASC Framework on Durable Solutions for IDPs,44 introduced in 2010. In some countries, such as Uganda, returns brought to a close displacement that had peaked years before in 2005 – 2006. In Libya, Mali and South Sudan, returns occurred more quickly as changing conflict dynamics made it possible for some to return home, albeit sometimes in adverse conditions. In Yemen, UNHCR worked with authorities to help thousands to return in 2012, paving the way for the approval in 2013 of a national policy on IDPs. In Somalia, UNHCR worked through the decade to provide a solutions framework, and this led to displacement solutions being included in National Development Plans and the establishment of relevant governance structures. Working on solutions for IDPs required increasing collaboration with development partners, such as the UN Development Programme and the World Bank in countries such as Colombia and Sudan, and with peacebuilding actors as UNHCR was designated the focal point within the SecretaryGeneral’s Framework on Ending Displacement in the Aftermath of Conflict. 43 Nevertheless, more needs to be done to build on these partnerships In a major breakthrough for the protection of IDPs in Africa, the African Union Convention on the Protection of and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (known as the Kampala Convention) became effective in 2012. With new and protracted displacement in Africa constituting an estimated 43 per cent of global conflict-related internal displacement at the end of 2019, 45 there is an evident and critical need for national legislation, policies and measures to implement the Kampala Convention. In the last decade, 30 members have become party to the Kampala Convention and seven have adopted relevant implementing legislation and policies. Along with its partners, UNHCR is promoting further ratifications and assisting Governments in Africa to domesticate the Convention, and those outside Africa to develop laws and policies on internal displacement. Since the development of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement in 1998, more than 88 national laws and policies on internal displacement have been adopted, according to a global database maintained by UNHCR as part of the Global Protection Cluster. 43 UN Secretary-General (UNSG), Decision No.2011/20 - Durable Solutions: Follow up to the Secretary-General’s 2009 report on peacebuilding, 4 October 2011, available at: https://www.refworld. org/docid/5242d12b7.html 44 See https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/system/files/ iasc_framework_on_durable_solutions_for_idps_april_2010.pdf 45 Source: internal-displacement.org UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2019