UNHCR’s protection chief explains why the new global compact on refugees matters

Summary

The 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

00:00

🌐 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.

Keywords

💡Refugees

Refugees are individuals who have been forced to flee their country of origin due to war, persecution, or natural disaster. In the context of the video, the focus is on the challenges faced by countries receiving a large influx of refugees and the international community's role in assisting these nations. The script mentions how even a smaller country can be significantly affected by an influx of 10 to 20 thousand refugees.

💡International Community

The international community refers to the global network of nations and organizations that work together to address common problems. The video discusses how this community can assist countries overwhelmed by refugees, highlighting the lack of specific guidance in the 1951 convention on burden-sharing and how the Global Compact aims to fill this gap.

💡1951 Convention

The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees is a key legal document that defines who is a refugee and their rights. The video points out that while it provides a framework, it does not specify how to share the burden and responsibilities of hosting refugees, which the Global Compact seeks to address.

💡Global Compact

The Global Compact is an agreement that aims to improve the international response to refugee situations by providing a more structured approach to sharing responsibilities. The video emphasizes the importance of this compact in addressing a long-standing gap in refugee management and its role in securing a political commitment from UN member states.

💡Burden Sharing

Burden sharing refers to the distribution of responsibilities among nations in handling global issues, such as the接纳 of refugees. The video script discusses the lack of guidance on burden sharing in the 1951 Convention and how the Global Compact is designed to resolve this by providing a framework for countries to collaborate.

💡Multilateral Process

A multilateral process involves multiple countries working together to achieve a common goal. The video highlights the successful multilateral process that led to the development of the Global Compact, despite the polarization and divisiveness prevalent in today's world.

💡UN General Assembly

The UN General Assembly is one of the six main organs of the United Nations, where each member state has equal representation. The video anticipates that the Assembly will adopt the Global Compact, signifying a strong political commitment from all member states.

💡World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries. The video mentions how countries like Bangladesh have relied on World Bank support to bolster their health and education services, which are impacted by the influx of refugees.

💡Host Communities

Host communities are the local populations in the areas where refugees settle. The video emphasizes the need to support these communities as they are also affected by the strain on local services such as health and education. The Global Compact aims to provide this support.

💡Political Commitment

Political commitment refers to the pledge by governments to support and implement policies or agreements. The video discusses the importance of the political commitment from the 193 UN member states to implement the Global Compact, even though it is not legally binding.

💡International Financial Institutions

International financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund play a crucial role in global economic governance. The video notes a realization within these institutions about the impact of forced displacement on various systems and the need to invest in them to support larger populations.

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