Annual NGO-UNHCR consultations start tomorrow
Briefing Notes, 25 September 2007
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 25 September 2007, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
UNHCR's Annual Consultations with Non-Governmental Organisations will begin tomorrow here in Geneva, bringing together some 200 NGOs for two full days of talks on a variety of issues ranging from humanitarian reform to responding in complex refugee emergencies.
In all, 330 delegates have registered to attend the consultations, which will be opened tomorrow by Deputy High Commissioner Craig Johnstone and closed at midday Friday with concluding remarks from High Commissioner António Guterres.
In a message to the meeting, Mr. Guterres – who is in New York this week – notes that NGOs are UNHCR's crucial partners in practically every one of our operations – those in the headlines and those in some of the most isolated and dangerous places in the world. Altogether, UNHCR works with more than 600 NGOs – national and international – worldwide.
The NGO consultations precede next week's annual UNHCR Executive Committee meeting. We'll have more information on the weeklong "ExCom" on Friday.
A practical guide for those working with UNHCR in protecting and assisting refugees.
A priority for us is to strengthen partnerships with non-governmental organizations.
The governing body meets annually to discuss programmes, budgets and other key issues.
An important yearly forum.
The 2012 Annual Consultations with NGOs took place from 3 to 5 July 2012 at the International Conference Centre Geneva (ICCG). For further information, visit our website:
South Sudan: Preparing for Long-Awaited Returns
The signing of a peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the army of the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement on 9 January, 2005, ended 21 years of civil war and signaled a new era for southern Sudan. For some 4.5 million uprooted Sudanese – 500,000 refugees and 4 million internally displaced people – it means a chance to finally return home.
In preparation, UNHCR and partner agencies have undertaken, in various areas of South Sudan, the enormous task of starting to build some basic infrastructure and services which either were destroyed during the war or simply had never existed. Alongside other UN agencies and NGOs, UNHCR is also putting into place a wide range of programmes to help returnees re-establish their lives.
These programs include road construction, the building of schools and health facilities, as well as developing small income generation programmes to promote self-reliance.
South Sudan: Preparing for Long-Awaited Returns
Dollow: Help inside Somalia
Dollow is a dusty Somali border town with a bridge, 3 km from the Dollo Ado refugee camps across the river in Ethiopia. But many of Dollow's most recent inhabitants are internally displaced people (IDPs) who have no intention of crossing the bridge - constructed with UNHCR's help over 20 years ago - to seek humanitarian assistance. Displaced by drought and famine from the Somali regions of Gedo, Bay and Bakool, these agro-pastoralists overwhelmingly express their wish to return home if the seasonal rains come in October and it is safe to do so.
UNHCR and other UN agencies are providing aid through a variety of local NGOs. Shelter, emergency assistance packages and dry food rations are being distributed while a wet feeding centre provides much-needed sustenance to the estimated 2,000 IDPs in Dollow.
Dollow: Help inside Somalia
New arrivals in Ethiopia: Remote Dolo Ado becomes a safe haven for 10,000 Somalis fleeing violence
Since the beginning of this year an estimated 10,000 Somalis have crossed the border and sought shelter in Dolo Ado, a remote, sun-scorched and predominantly Somali corner of south-east Ethiopia. Most have fled insecurity, following the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from south and central Somalia and the takeover of these areas by insurgent elements. At the peak of the influx in early February 2009, about 150 people were crossing the border each day.
In reponse, a UNHCR emergency team was sent to help run a transit centre in Dolo Ado. In addition, UNHCR dispatched convoys carrying emergency aid, including mosquito nets, blankets, jerry cans, kitchen sets and plastic sheets. Relief efforts are being coordinated with other UN agencies and NGOs to ensure needs are being met.
Although a number of displaced Somalis within south and central Somalia have started to return, mainly to Mogadishu, many Somalis remain in Dolo Ado in need of protection. Given the poor prospects for repatriation in the foreseeable future, a camp is now under development and refugees are being screened.
New arrivals in Ethiopia: Remote Dolo Ado becomes a safe haven for 10,000 Somalis fleeing violence
UNHCR Geneva: Executive Committee 2012
Refugee agency chief António Guterres opens annual ExCom meeting with warning that UNHCR being stretched by multiplication of new refugee crises.
ExCom: Angelina Jolie Addresses Annual Meeting
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, in a speech to UNHCR's governing Executive Committee, appeals for a stepped-up response to the crisis in the Horn of Africa.
ExCom: Guterres Warning
High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres opens the annual meeting of UNHCR's governing committee with a warning that displacement crises are multiplying and becoming more unpredictable.
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