| dc.description.abstract | Internally displaced persons herein after referred to as (IDPs) have been
defined as;
"Persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to
flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular
as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations
of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-
made disasters, and who have not crossed any internationally recognized
State border." 1
An estimated 25 million people today live in situations of internally
displacement as a result of conflicts and human rights violations.? They
are forced to flee their homes because their lives are in danger but unlike
refugees they do not cross international borders though exposed to
violence and other human rights violations they have no or have only
limited access to food, employment, education and health care.
Large numbers of IDPs are caught in desperate situations amidst
fighting or in remote or inaccessible areas cut off from international
assistance. Others have been forced to live away from their homes for
many years or decades because the conflicts that caused their
displacement remain unsolved. | en |
