$210 MILLION PROMISED FOR 1997 OPERATIONS OF UNHCR; ONGOING PROGRAMMES SAID TO REQUIRE MORE THAN $1.4 BILLION

8 November 1996

Press Release
GA/9160
REF/1153

$210 MILLION PROMISED FOR 1997 OPERATIONS OF UNHCR; ONGOING PROGRAMMES SAID TO REQUIRE MORE THAN $1.4 BILLION

19961108 Assembly President Tells Pledging Meeting 'It's Bizarre', When Global Responsibility for Plight of Refugees Has to Depend on Voluntary Funding

Some $210 million was pledged this morning at a meeting of the General Assembly's Ad Hoc Committee for the Announcement of Voluntary Contributions to the 1997 programmes of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The 23 States announcing pledges this morning were Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Chile, China, Djibouti, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Turkey and the United States. They were joined by the Observer for Switzerland.

The representatives of Denmark, Japan and Malaysia, as well as the observer for the Holy See, announced their intention to contribute at a later date.

Declaring the meeting open, General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia) said the need to hold a pledging conference each year to sustain the work of the UNHCR was "somewhat bizarre", particularly when "we know all too well how urgent their needs for resources are, and how critical is the need for an international and coordinated approach to protect refugees in an increasingly volatile world". The UNHCR, he noted, was entirely dependent on voluntary funding for its programmes; the pledges would have direct impact on the lives of more than 26 million refugees, displaced persons and others in need of protection and help.

The Director of the New York Liaison Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, Soren Jessen-Petersen, speaking on behalf of High Commissioner Sadako Ogata, said that projected funding requirements for 1997 amounted to some $1.14 billion, consisting of $452.6 million for 1997 general programmes and $690.5 million for various special operations, emergencies and repatriations.

In closing remarks, he thanked the donors and urged governments to pay their pledges early, and to announce further contributions as soon as possible.

Opening Statements

The President of the General Assembly, RAZALI ISMAIL (Malaysia), said it was somewhat bizarre that pledging conferences were needed every year to sustain the UNHCR, considering the tremendous importance of protecting refugees in an increasingly volatile world. The mass displacement of people seeking protection from war, poverty, environmental catastrophe and persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality and political opinion, was one of the most pressing issues facing the international community today.

He said that the tragic events in the Great Lakes region in Africa demonstrated the need to end the cycles of violence. The costs of humanitarian assistance were soaring, yet never had the need for such assistance been greater. There was a delicate balance between helping too much and not helping enough. Relief and humanitarian assistance delivered externally should serve as a catalyst for the longer process of internal rehabilitation. In addition to major reconstruction efforts, programmes targeting communities at the grass-roots level were needed in order to overcome the factors that led to forced displacement. Immediate and well- coordinated responses from the international community were needed.

It was less costly and less destructive to spend on reconstruction and development now than on relief efforts later, he continued. Given the political will, real advances could be achieved. He urged governments to respond to early warnings that could prevent the wanton loss of life, and to think soberly about the role of the arms trade as a causal variable in humanitarian crises.

He reminded the international community that humanitarian programmes of the UNHCR were entirely funded by voluntary contributions. The pledges made today would enable the High Commissioner to begin to implement programmes providing assistance to more than 26 million persons of humanitarian concern. Next year, the UNHCR's financial requirements were again expected to exceed the 1 billion mark. He, therefore, urged generous contributions and a broader donor base. He stressed that all individuals were morally compelled to act to save lives and Member States compelled to serve the broader interlocking interests of humanity.

UNHCR Pledging Conference - 3 - Press Release GA/9160 1st Meeting (AM) REF/1153 8 November 1996

Mr. JESSEN-PETERSEN, Director of the New York Liaison Office of the UNHCR, told participants that the High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, had had to return to Geneva because of the crisis in the Great Lakes region in Africa. Today, he continued, there were some 26 million persons of concern to the UNHCR. Of those, 13.2 million were refugees, which represented a modest decline from last year's 14.5 million. Africa, he noted, remained the region with the highest number of refugees, followed by Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. While there had been important progress towards meeting durable challenges in many parts of the world, there remained enormous new challenges in several post-cold-war conflicts. As recent events in eastern Zaire had again shown, the international environment remained extremely volatile.

He noted that since 1991 the UNHCR's programmes had grown at an exceptional rate, but that growth had now stabilized and it was hoped that consolidation had begun. Projected funding requirements for 1997 amounted to some $1.14 billion, consisting of $452.6 million for 1997 general programmes and $690.5 million for various special operations, emergencies and repatriations. The UNHCR wished to give particular priority to the funding of durable solutions, particularly protection, voluntary repatriation and local settlement. Those solutions formed part of the UNHCR's general programmes and also of its special programmes, particularly repatriations in west Africa, the Horn of Africa, Angola, Afghanistan and Myanmar. The UNHCR also continued to confront large-scale needs for humanitarian relief, such as the Great Lakes region where renewed massive displacements were as yet difficult to quantify.

Closing Statement

In his closing statement, Mr. Jessen-Petersen said that the total pledged would provide a sound basis to begin implementing programmes in the first quarter of 1997. He expressed his deep appreciation for the pledges and the intentions expressed. Governments, he said, should make early payments of their pledges and, wherever possible, announce further contributions as soon as possible, as it would provide a sound basis on which to plan and implement the UNHCR programmes.

UNHCR Pledging Conference - 4 - Press Release GA/9160 1st Meeting (AM) REF/1153 8 November 1996

Pledges Announced

Local currency US$ Equivalent

Algeria 50,000 Austria 4.5 million schillings 424,528 Belgium 170 million Belgian francs 5,431,309 Benin 1,500 Chile 20,000 China 250,000 Djibouti 1,000 Germany 17 million marks 11,184,210 Ghana 5,000 Hungary 20,000 Lebanon 3,000 Liechtenstein 50,000 Swiss francs 40,000 Monaco 40,000 French francs 7,827 Morocco 15,000 Netherlands 46 million guilders 26,900,584 Norway 150 million kroner 23,112,480 Portugal 157,500 Republic of Korea 1,500,000 Sri Lanka 7,000 rupees 124 Sweden 248.5 million kronor 37,823,439 Switzerland 13 million Swiss francs 10,400,000 Turkey 150,000 United States 90,000,000

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