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UNHCR chief reiterates partnership at annual meet with NGOs

News Stories, 27 June 2008

High Commissioner Ant&;nio Guterres closing UNHCR's annual NGO consultations in Geneva.

GENEVA, June 27 (UNHCR) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres reiterated here Friday the importance of the refugee agency's partnership with NGOs and stressed the need to boost the capacity of national NGOs.

"I am deeply committed to enhance this partnership," Guterres told some 350 representatives from more than 200 international and national organizations attending the closing session of the three-day UNHCR Annual Consultations with NGOs (non-governmental organizations).

There were more national NGOs attending the annual meeting than ever before, reflecting the growing importance of these partners to the work of UNHCR in the field. "The role of local NGOs has increased in a meaningful way," the High Commissioner noted, while adding that he was "particularly concerned with increased capacity of local NGOs."

Guterres also expressed concern about human rights violations and the "narrowing of the humanitarian space." He said NGOs were important as "strong allies to make sure that human rights are respected."

He also addressed the issue of urban refugees, adding that this problem "will be our key priority ... in the near future." He specifically mentioned Damascus and Amman, where the huge numbers of Iraqi refugees had been an eye-opener for UNHCR. "This trend will be bigger and bigger."

This year's consultations were opened on Wednesday by Deputy High Commissioner L. Craig Johnstone. The main theme was human rights, but participants discussed a wide range of issues and themes.

Queen Noor of Jordan called at Wednesday's opening for renewed international support for the Iraqi refugee relief programmes of UNHCR and others. The queen's Al Noor Al Hussein Foundation is an NGO partner of UNHCR, which is facing a funding crisis for its Iraqi programme.

The NGO consultations provide an important forum to raise issues, network, and exchange views with UNHCR on all aspects of their partnership on behalf of the world's uprooted people.

NGOs are vital partners for UNHCR, implementing programmes for refugees and IDPs in some of the world's most remote and difficult places. In all, about a third of UNHCR's resources are channelled through its partners. The UN refugee agency works with more than 600 NGOs worldwide.

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Non-Governmental Organizations

A priority for us is to strengthen partnerships with non-governmental organizations.

Governments as Partners

UNHCR works with host governments to protect and assist refugees and to find solutions.

Partnership: An Operations Management Handbook for UNHCR's Partners (Revised Edition)

A practical guide for those working with UNHCR in protecting and assisting refugees.

The High Commissioner

António Guterres, who joined UNHCR on June 15, 2005, is the UN refugee agency's 10th High Commissioner.

Corporate Partners

UNHCR values its corporate partners.

Annual Consultations with NGOs

An important yearly forum.

2011 Annual Consultations with NGOs

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:

http://www.unhcr.org/ngo-consultations

UNHCR/Partners Bring Aid to North Kivu

As a massive food distribution gets underway in six UNHCR-run camps for tens of thousands of internally displaced Congolese in North Kivu, the UN refugee agency continues to hand out desperately needed shelter and household items.

A four-truck UNHCR convoy carrying 33 tonnes of various aid items, including plastic sheeting, blankets, kitchen sets and jerry cans crossed Wednesday from Rwanda into Goma, the capital of the conflict-hit province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The aid, from regional emergency stockpiles in Tanzania, was scheduled for immediate distribution. The supplies arrived in Goma as the World Food Programme (WFP), with assistance from UNHCR, began distributing food to some 135,000 displaced people in the six camps run by the refugee agency near Goma.

More than 250,000 people have been displaced since the fighting resumed in August in North Kivu. Estimates are that there are now more than 1.3 million displaced people in this province alone.

Posted on 6 November 2008

UNHCR/Partners Bring Aid to North Kivu

Since 2006, renewed conflict and general insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo's North Kivu province has forced some 400,000 people to flee their homes – the country's worst displacement crisis since the formal end of the civil war in 2003. In total, there are now some 800,000 people displaced in the province, including those uprooted by previous conflicts.

Hope for the future was raised in January 2008 when the DRC government and rival armed factions signed a peace accord. But the situation remains tense in North Kivu and tens of thousands of people still need help. UNHCR has opened sites for internally displaced people (IDPs) and distributed assistance such as blankets, plastic sheets, soap, jerry cans, firewood and other items to the four camps in the region. Relief items have also been delivered to some of the makeshift sites that have sprung up.

UNHCR staff have been engaged in protection monitoring to identify human rights abuses and other problems faced by IDPs and other populations at risk across North Kivu.

UNHCR's ninemillion campaign aims to provide a healthy and safe learning environment for nine million refugee children by 2010.

Posted on 28 May 2008

UNHCR/Partners Bring Aid to North Kivu

Crisis in Iraq: Displacement

UNHCR and its partners estimate that out of a total population of 26 million, some 1.9 million Iraqis are currently displaced internally and more than 2 million others have fled to nearby countries. While many people were displaced before 2003, increasing numbers of Iraqis are now fleeing escalating sectarian, ethnic and general violence. Since January 2006, UNHCR estimates that more than 800,000 Iraqis have been uprooted and that 40,000 to 50,000 continue to flee their homes every month. UNHCR anticipates there will be approximately 2.3 million internally displaced people within Iraq by the end of 2007. The refugee agency and its partners have provided emergency assistance, shelter and legal aid to displaced Iraqis where security has allowed.

In January 2007, UNHCR launched an initial appeal for US$60 million to fund its Iraq programme. Despite security issues for humanitarian workers inside the country, UNHCR and partners hope to continue helping up to 250,000 of the most vulnerable internally displaced Iraqis and their host communities

Posted on 12 June 2007

Crisis in Iraq: Displacement

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UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres visits refugees in South Sudan and says international assistance is "absolutely crucial.”

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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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UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres speaks about the use of computer technology to empower refugees.