High Commissioner to address League of Arab States in Cairo

UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres leaves this afternoon on a three-day mission to Egypt at the invitation of the League of Arab States.

On Sunday, the High Commissioner will address the opening session of the 127th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Cairo, focusing on the situation of Iraqi refugees in neighbouring Arab countries and the internally displaced inside Iraq. He will be highlighting the urgent need for humanitarian solidarity by the international community and seek partnerships with the Arab States in addressing the needs of the Iraqis.

UNHCR will be convening an international conference in Geneva on April 17-18 on Iraqi displacement. The Geneva conference will bring together Iraqi authorities and those of neighbouring countries, major refugee-hosting states, donor countries, resettlement countries, concerned regional governmental organisations, and UN and other partners. It will seek commitments to address the humanitarian problems in Iraq and promote international burden-sharing to ease the strain on refugee-hosting states.