In order to popularise and create awareness, and promote the speedy signature, ratification and domestication of the AU Convention for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, the African Union has decided to convene regional meetings. The first round of consultations will take place in Lilongwe, Malawi for the SADC region from 17 to 18 March 2011. Since its adoption in October 2009 at the Kampala Special Summit on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP's), seven African Union Member States (Uganda, Sierra Leone, Chad, Zambia, Central African Republic, Somalia and Gabon) have ratified the Convention for the Protection and Assistance of IDP's.