By Dr Wolfgang Jamann, Secretary General and CEO of CARE International
Today I joined the UNHCR-hosted thematic discussion on the Global Compact on Refugees here at the UN in Geneva. I heard representatives from mostly refugee-hosting countries sharing how last year’s New York Declaration has driven changes and innovation in policy that are making a real difference to refugees across the world. UN member states, International agencies and NGOs heard how Afghan refugees in Pakistan are being given flexible visas to allow them to return home while retaining access to jobs, study and – if needed – safety in Pakistan.
Lebanon, Jordan and others spoke about the vast scale of their challenge – one in three people in Lebanon is a refugee, and a majority of them are women and girls. As in most crises and disasters, women and girls are worst affected. They are the last to eat in times of food shortages, they often lack the physical strength to escape conflict and they face sexual violence during their flight and when vulnerable in host communities.
I was encouraged to hear a number of Latin American states expressing their willingness to host people, with Brazil highlighting that they are open not only to refugees but all migrants – new laws, based on broad public consultation, guarantee their rights and support refugees, stateless persons and others to integrate into Brazilian society.
However, the realities of burden-sharing are less encouraging. Even within the richest continent in the world, and the tight-knit bloc of the EU, numbers aren’t encouraging. Greece’s diplomatic observation at the meeting that the EU location scheme is working ‘relatively well’ can’t disguise the fact that only 16,000 people have been relocated out of over 98,000 who qualify. The recent Uganda solidarity summit to support Uganda’s hosting of almost a million South Sudanese refugees, raised only $358m – less than was spent on lobbying the Texas Legislature in a single session – against a target of $2bn.
It’s clear that we need a change.
Germany, Iran and others usefully highlighted the need to establish agreed mechanisms to calculate the proportional share a country could be expected to bear – for example based on its economy or population – against the actual share being borne. Not only could this help build political will for more funding and political support from non-hosting countries, but would demonstrate what Ambassador Mohamed Abdi Affey noted is a 'matter of justice'. As several delegates reminded us, refugees are overwhelmingly hosted in the Global south, in poor or mid-income countries. Turkey, in particular, highlighted that they have received only around $500m in aid compared to an estimated $30bn they have spent on providing refugees with healthcare, shelter, education and other basic services.
For me this highlights that nothing in the forthcoming compact will make a difference for women and girls if we don't have a robust mechanism to monitor commitments and hold nation states accountable for both their action and inaction. As a result CARE, along with 17 other NGOs, has called for:
- Implementation of the compact within a common framework for measuring progress and identifying gaps. Progress should not only be measured with relation to commitments but also to improvements for refugees and incremental progress towards durable solutions. It should be based on agreed indicators and benchmarks to achieve a set of defined collective outcomes, aligned with the widely accepted Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework
- UNHCR to develop the monitoring and reporting framework considering the application of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Frameworks (CRRFs) at global and country level. It is essential that includes reporting on short-term outputs (by late 2017); mid-term outcomes (by late 2018); and intermediate-term impact (in 2021). Civil society needs to be included in developing both the framework, and also in the accountability process.
- A review process, which should include a system to follow-up on all commitments made by States, which are relevant to the Compact (e.g. those made through the New York Declaration, the Leaders’ Summit and other relevant meetings) Since the PoA is set to reflect actions to be taken by all stakeholders – NGOs and refugees included – the process of following-up, reporting, reviewing and updating should also be a multi-stakeholder undertaking.
If these and other recommendations are followed, we in civil society will play our part in holding states accountable for their commitments to the most vulnerable people on the planet.
Connect with Dr Wolfgang Jamann on Twitter @wjamann