UNHCR’s protection chief explains why the new global compact on refugees matters
Summary
TLDRThe transcript discusses the international community's response to refugee crises, highlighting the Global Compact as a solution to the decades-long gap in burden-sharing. It emphasizes the importance of political commitment from 193 UN member states, despite the Compact's non-binding nature. The Compact aims to support host countries and communities by integrating refugees into national programs and garnering sustained political attention to the issue. It also involves international financial institutions in addressing the systemic shocks caused by forced displacement.
Takeaways
- 🌐 The international community faces challenges in assisting countries overwhelmed by refugee influxes, with no specific guidance from the 1951 convention on burden-sharing.
- 📜 The Global Compact aims to fill a decades-long gap by providing a framework for countries to share responsibilities regarding refugees.
- 🗣️ An 18-month process involving all 193 UN member states and stakeholders led to a multilateral agreement on a sensitive issue, despite global polarization.
- 🎯 The UN General Assembly is expected to adopt the Global Compact, symbolizing a strong political commitment from member states to implement it.
- 🏥 The Global Compact emphasizes the need for support to host communities, whose health and education services are often strained by the influx of refugees.
- 💼 Countries like Bangladesh and Lebanon can rely on support from institutions like the World Bank to bolster their services for refugees and host communities.
- 🔄 The compact promotes a win-win situation by ensuring that improvements in health and other services benefit both refugees and host communities.
- 🌱 It encourages the inclusion of refugees in national programs, moving beyond the humanitarian emergency phase to a more sustainable integration.
- 🏦 International financial institutions have recognized the shock displacement causes to systems like water, sanitation, education, and health, and are now more involved in supporting these areas.
- 🌟 The Global Compact not only builds on existing partnerships but also expands and introduces new ones, including international financial institutions.
Q & A
What is the main issue discussed in the transcript?
-The main issue discussed is the impact of a large influx of refugees on a country and how the international community, particularly through the Global Compact, assists in addressing this challenge.
What does the 1951 convention lack according to the transcript?
-The 1951 convention does not specify how to share the burden and responsibilities of refugee situations, which is a gap that the Global Compact aims to fill.
What is the Global Compact and how does it respond to the refugee issue?
-The Global Compact is an agreement that provides a framework for countries to respond to refugee situations more effectively. It aims to fill the gaps left by the 1951 convention by specifying how to share the burden and responsibilities among nations.
How did the UN manage to achieve a consensus on such a sensitive issue?
-Despite polarization and divisiveness, the UN managed a multilateral process involving all 193 member states and other stakeholders, resulting in a consensus to adopt the Global Compact.
What is the expected outcome of the UN General Assembly adopting the Global Compact?
-The expected outcome is a strong political commitment from all 193 member states to implement the Global Compact, even though it is not legally binding.
How does the Global Compact assist countries affected by a large influx of refugees?
-The Global Compact assists by providing support to host countries and communities, such as boosting health and education services, and ensuring sustained political attention to the refugee issue.
What is the significance of the World Bank's support mentioned in the transcript?
-The World Bank's support is significant as it provides early assistance to countries like Bangladesh that are heavily affected by the influx of refugees, helping to bolster their health and education services.
Why is it important to keep the refugee issue on the political agenda?
-It is important to keep the refugee issue on the political agenda to ensure that it does not get forgotten and to maintain a focus on finding long-term solutions.
How does the Global Compact approach the inclusion of refugees in national programs?
-The Global Compact encourages the inclusion of refugees in national programs by finding ways to integrate them into systems such as health and education, which benefits both refugees and host communities.
What is the role of international financial institutions in the Global Compact?
-International financial institutions play a role in the Global Compact by recognizing the impact of forced displacement on systems like water, sanitation, education, and health. They support and invest in these systems to help them cope with larger populations.
How does the Global Compact expand partnerships and bring in new partners?
-The Global Compact expands partnerships by building on existing ones and incorporating new partners, such as international financial institutions, to create a broader approach to supporting host countries and communities.
Outlines
🌐 Global Compact for Refugees
The paragraph discusses the impact of a large influx of refugees on a country and how the international community can assist. It highlights the Global Compact, which addresses the lack of burden-sharing mechanisms outlined in the 1951 convention. The Global Compact emerged from an 18-month process involving all 193 UN member states and various stakeholders, representing a significant achievement in a polarized world. The UN General Assembly is expected to adopt the compact, symbolizing a strong political commitment to its implementation, despite it not being legally binding. The compact aims to provide support to host countries and communities, ensuring that they receive assistance for their health and education services, which in turn benefits both refugees and the local population. The adoption of the Global Compact is expected to keep the refugee issue on the political agenda, ensuring sustained attention and support.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Refugees
💡International Community
💡1951 Convention
💡Global Compact
💡Burden Sharing
💡Multilateral Process
💡UN General Assembly
💡World Bank
💡Host Communities
💡Political Commitment
💡International Financial Institutions
Highlights
The country is affected by an influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees.
The 1951 convention does not specify how to share burden and responsibilities.
The Global Compact addresses a significant gap in international refugee policy.
An 18-month process of engagement with all 193 UN member states and stakeholders was completed.
The UN General Assembly is expected to adopt the Global Compact.
The Global Compact represents a strong political commitment, even if not legally binding.
Affected countries can rely on support like Bangladesh did with World Bank support.
Host communities are affected and require boosting of health and education services.
The Global Compact ensures sustained political attention to the refugee issue.
The compact aims to keep the refugee issue on the political agenda.
The compact finds ways to include refugees in national programs.
Boosting health systems benefits both refugees and host communities.
The compact embeds the response to host countries and communities in a broader partnership approach.
International financial institutions recognize the impact of forced displacement as a shock to the system.
Support and investment in systems are needed to cope with larger populations.
The Global Compact builds on existing partnerships and expands some, bringing in new partners.
International financial institutions are a significant new partner in the Global Compact.
Transcripts
the country today is affected by an
influx of hundreds of thousands of
refugees or if it's a smaller country by
even 1020 thousand what does the
international community do to assist
this country the 1951 convention does
not specify how you share burden and
responsibilities and that's what the
Global Compact does so it responds to
one of the big gaps that we have had for
decades and it resolves it we have just
ended an 18-month process of intense
engagement with all 193 member states of
the United Nations plus all other
stakeholders
it's a miracle in today's world where
there is a lot of polarization where we
see a lot of divisive nests but we
actually managed a multilateral process
to survive on one of the most sensitive
issues such as refugees
the UN General Assembly will adopt the
Global Compact that's our expectation
and once that's done it means a very
strong political commitment of all 193
member states to implement it even if
it's not legally binding
what would be different today is that
you would be able as a country that is
particularly affected you would be able
to rely as Bangladesh did by the way on
World Bank support very early on very
often in Lebanon for example Bangladesh
it's the host communities that is
affected as well their health services
education services so they need boosting
they need support and that's what the
Global Compact puts forward and what we
ensure through the adoption of the
Global Compact is sustained political
attention to the refugee issue we will
keep the issue on the political agenda
of the world community so that they do
not forget the refugee issue so that's
what is really new otherwise we depended
on ad hoc ISM on we had to reinvent the
wheel all the time
she've is beyond the humanitarian
emergency phase which is absolutely
crucial that we find ways and means to
include refugees in national programs
wherever that's possible if we boost up
the health system it not only benefits
refugees but it should also benefit the
host community so that's where the
win-win situation comes in
or contact us it embeds the response to
host countries host communities to the
refugees in a much broader partnership
approach what has happened there is a
realization within the international
financial institutions that the impact
of forced displacement is a shock to the
system on water sanitation on education
on health and you need to support the
you need to invest in the system so that
it can cope with a much larger
population and that has happened over
the last three years in a way what the
Global Compact does it not just built on
existing partnerships but expands some
of them and it brings in new partners
and one of the big new partners that
have come in is are the international
financial institutions
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