UNHCR signs Memorandum of Understanding with European Council on Refugees and Exiles
Briefing Notes, 28 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 28 September 2007, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
On the eve of the Annual Consultations with NGOs in Geneva last Tuesday, UNHCR signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), a network of 76 refugee-assisting organisations in 31 European countries.
The agreement, signed by the UNHCR Director for Europe, Pirkko Kourula, and the ECRE Secretary General, Bjarte Vandvik, establishes an important strategic partnership in support of efforts to ensure fair and humane policies for the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe. This partnership is intended to enhance and develop existing cooperation between the two organisations in relation to their advocacy, monitoring and capacity-building initiatives, as well as efforts to promote Europe's wider role in global responsibility-sharing for the protection of refugees.
One of UNHCR's most significant aims in Europe is to promote, support and encourage civil society to play a greater role in the development and implementation of protection principles across the continent. In this respect, ECRE is a trusted partner serving as an independent monitor of protection systems.
The collaboration will become increasingly significant as UNHCR continues to consolidate its presence in Europe, by emphasising the importance of ensuring strong links with prominent and vocal partners across the continent.
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.
An important yearly forum.
The 2011 Annual Consultations with NGOs will take place from 28 to 30 June 2011 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
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