ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT URGES GENEROUS SUPPORT FOR UNHCR
Press Release
GA/9161
REF/1154
ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT URGES GENEROUS SUPPORT FOR UNHCR
19961108 Following is the text of a statement made this morning by the President of the General Assembly, Razali Ismail (Malaysia), at the meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Announcement of Voluntary Contributions to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):I readily associate the fifty-first presidency with the purposes behind the efforts of the Ad Hoc Committee to announce voluntary contributions in support of the 1997 programme of the UNHCR. I do, however, find it somewhat bizarre that pledging conferences are needed every year to sustain the work of UNHCR, particularly when we know all too well how urgent their needs for resources are, and how critical the need for an international and coordinated approach to protect 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, is one of the most pressing issues to beset the international community today. No symbol captures the brutal reality of group suffering more than the sight of women, men and children fleeing for their lives to escape conflict and violence, and who do not enjoy protection in their home country.
Through the establishment of UNHCR, the international community acknowledged its duty to protect refugees and promote durable solutions to their problems. Yet we are mindful of the enormous difficulties and complexities inherent in responding adequately to modern-day humanitarian emergencies.
The tragic unfolding of events in the Great Lakes region of Africa demonstrates the need to find effective ways and means to stabilize volatile post-conflict situations sufficiently, so that the seemingly endless cycle of violence is broken and armed conflicts are prevented from re-erupting.
The costs for humanitarian relief and assistance are soaring, but never has the need for sustained support and resources been greater. The purpose of assistance for refugees and their long-term rehabilitation is to restore the
victims to self-sufficiency, to draw them away from dependency and vulnerability towards viability and sustainability. The process is slow and incremental, and often needs to overcome daunting obstacles.
Provision of relief and assistance in itself is not enough. We must be aware of the delicate balance between helping enough and not helping too much. At the same time, relief and humanitarian assistance delivered externally should serve to catalyze the longer process of rehabilitation internally.
The conflicts and underlying causes that provoke refugee movements are often rooted in more fundamental political, social, economic and ecological problems. Appropriate and sustainable development programmes that target communities at the grass-roots level, as well as major reconstruction efforts, are the only long-term solutions that can address the underlying causes of forced displacement.
Refugees cannot resume their lives easily in countries whose social and economic infrastructure have been devastated by years of conflict. Nor can they realistically be expected to go home voluntarily if conditions there are worse than those in the countries of asylum. Strategies to avert or resolve refugee problems cannot be expected to succeed if they fail to confront these issues, some of which go well beyond the mandate of specialized agencies such as UNHCR.
Even though immediate and well-coordinated responses are needed to save lives in emergencies, the challenges of responding to them are matched by the complexity of finding solutions. In the aftermath of conflict, political, economic and social conditions are often extremely fragile. Durable solutions are not simply about moving refugees back across borders. Voluntary repatriation of refugees frequently follows conflict and takes place in the context of a peace which is still in need of sustained support.
It is therefore essential to invest in and integrate other aspects, such as confidence-building measures, conflict-prevention, socio-economic reconstruction and peace-building, if large-scale refugee movements are to be avoided in future. We all know that it is less costly and less destructive to spend funds on development and reconstruction now than to spend them on relief programmes later. I urge Governments to heed the call of early-warning systems that can prevent such wanton loss of life and to think soberly about the role of the arms trade as an important causal variable in such humanitarian crises.
The past year has seen a number of positive examples of what can be achieved in situations that once appeared intractable, given the requisite political will and international support. In South-East Asia, the winding up of the Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indo-Chinese Refugees (CPA) in June
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this year, marked the end of a refugee situation that began in the 1970s. In Mozambique, the voluntary repatriation of 1.7 million refugees was completed last year, and responsibility for reintegration programmes has been successfully passed to UNHCR's developmental partners. The successful organization of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Conference in Geneva was reflected in the adoption of a programme of action and a framework for follow-up activities.
The UNHCR is entirely dependent on voluntary funding for its humanitarian programmes. The pledges announced today will help provide the financial basis on which the High Commissioner will begin implementation of the 1997 programmes, in order to fulfil her mandate of providing protection and assistance to more than 26 million refugees, returnees, displaced persons and others of humanitarian concern, and of seeking effective and sustainable solutions to their plight. Next year, UNHCR's financial requirements for its general and special programmes are again expected to exceed the $1 billion mark.
I urge Governments to come forward today with generous pledges to enable the High Commissioner to carry out the demanding mandate entrusted to her. I hope that Governments which have not so far contributed in a significant way to the High Commissioner's programme will also make every effort to broaden the donor base by joining the ranks of those pledging contributions today and in the months ahead.
I would like to stress that we, as individuals, are morally compelled to act to save lives, and we, as Member States of the United Nations, are compelled to serve the broader, interlocking common interests of humanity. These two pursuits must guide our commitment to effective multilateralism and in defence of universal values.
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