Abstract:
The AU Kampala Convention aims to ensure that the states that have signed the treaty
protect and assist internally displaced persons (IDPs) in their regions to establish
geopolitical security, which is threatened by the inevitability, volume, and heterogeneity
of forced displacement. This article interrogates the link between the Kampala
Convention and the minimisation of interstate conflict through a political will to tackle
the challenge of forced displacement amongst member states, the cooperation and
integration of which would contribute to geopolitical security. Thus, using secondary
data, the author determines how addressing large-scale forced displacement in the
region can improve geopolitical security. Thus, based on an extensive review of relevant
IDP issues in Africa, attention is paid to displacement trends on the continent, factors
precipitating displacement and the flow of IDPs across the region, a current analysis
of the AU Kampala Convention framework, the challenges to African geopolitical
security, and responsibility sharing amongst African states. The authors concludes that
there should be synergy between host and displaced communities for integration and the provision of opportunities for IDPs to regain their livelihoods. Therefore, African
states need to adapt and implement, as a matter of urgency, national, regional, and
international policies to solve the challenges of internal displacement in Africa and ensure geopolitical security.
