Leaders’ Summit on Refugees
Obama: “History will judge us harshly if we do not rise to this moment”
Leaders’ Summit commits to increase opportunities for refugees to attend school, find employment and settle in their host countries.
In the wake of the UN Summit on Large Movements of Migrants and Refugees, the 'Leaders' Summit on Refugees' took place at UN headquarters in New York. The United States, who led the Summit, co-hosted the event with Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico and Sweden. Fifty-two countries participated in the Summit.
Opening the Summit, U.S President Barack Obama noted there is a growing awareness around the protracted nature of the majority of contemporary refugee situations. According to the U.S Department of State the average length of major protracted refugee situations is now 26 years.
The Summit recognized there was an urgent need to increase opportunities for refugees to attend school, find employment and settle in their host countries, and to step up support for host-countries to bolster their ability to provide such opportunities and services in a sustainable manner.
"I believe," Obama said, "history will judge us harshly if we do not rise to this moment". That's why, he said, "collectively, our nations have increased our contributions to humanitarian organizations and U.N. appeals this year by some $4.5 billion, and that includes a $1 billion increase this year from the United States. This will translate concretely into lifesaving food, and medicine, and clothing, and shelter".
The governments of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Cameroon, urged donors to scale up their financial support for major host-countries, such as themselves, and to follow through on both old and new commitments.
Noting that the country has spent a quarter of its national budget on refugee related costs during the past year, Jordan said it requires substantial financial support to address the economic set-backs it has suffered as a result.
The commitments made during the Summit were diverse, ranging from policy changes to humanitarian funding support. Whereas some, for example, promised to expand UNHCR-facilitated third-country resettlement programs, others announced they would admit more refugees through family reunification or humanitarian admission visas or changed asylum policies.
At least 17 participating member States made commitments to strengthen and adapt policies in order to improve education and employment opportunities for refugees. According to Obama, the number of refugees to be admitted to participating countries would be roughly doubled to more than 360,000 this year, with the U.S raising this number from 85,000 this year to 110,000 next year.
The European Council, noting that it had raised its humanitarian assistance for refugees to 1.7 billion euros in 2016 - in addition to individual donations from its member states. The EC also committed to prioritizing job creation and education in its future support for host-countries, such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.
In a similar vein, Norway declared that it would prioritize trade, education, job creation as well as good governance in its humanitarian support. Additional funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was promised by The Netherlands, who announced to free up an additional 4 million euros for the agency.
Earlier this year and as part of the wider UN response to the Syrian refugee crisis, the ILO had adopted a development-focused and employment-driven strategy to support host communities and refugees so as to maintain and reinforce the social and economic stability of the affected neighbouring countries (Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt), with projects of a total value of nearly USD 22 million.
Various countries announced support for the World Bank's new Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF), an entity that, as a component of the World Bank's Global Crisis Response Platform (GCRP), seeks to globalize the World Bank's CFF, a financing facility that concentrates on Jordan and Lebanon.
The GCFF will provide grants and loans to low and middle-income host countries to support the financing of education, job creation strategies and the establishment of special economic zones. These efforts, it was stressed, are meant to support and bolster the resilience of both the refugees as well as their host communities.
Ethiopia announced that the country has partnered with both the World Bank and the European Investment Bank in the creation of the new 'Job Creation Compact', which intends to provide 50.000 jobs in Ethiopia, 30 per cent of which will be reserved for refugees. An estimated US$ 500 million will be invested in industrial parks, as part of the Compact. In support of this initiative, the United Kingdom committed to donating around US$ 100 million to the Compact.
Furthermore, the United States promised to donate at least US$ 50 million to the GCFF, while committing to allocate US$ 20 million to the broader GCRP. Japan pledged to donate US$ 100 million to the GCRP, in addition to US$ 2.8 billion in humanitarian assistance, between 2016 and 2018.
Other notable pledges included China, who committed to providing UN and other multilateral agencies with an additional US$ 50 million annually over the next three years, and another US$ 50 million in bilateral assistance, amounting to a total of US$ 300 million in extra assistance.
Finally, Obama also mobilized the private sector for refugees. His Call to Action to businesses brought 51 American companies on board, yielding US$650 million in pledges. More than 75 per cent of this total came from the philanthropist George Soros who pledged to invest US $ 500 million "in startups, established companies, social-impact initiatives and businesses founded by migrants and refugees."
Opening the Summit, U.S President Barack Obama noted there is a growing awareness around the protracted nature of the majority of contemporary refugee situations. According to the U.S Department of State the average length of major protracted refugee situations is now 26 years.
The Summit recognized there was an urgent need to increase opportunities for refugees to attend school, find employment and settle in their host countries, and to step up support for host-countries to bolster their ability to provide such opportunities and services in a sustainable manner.
"I believe," Obama said, "history will judge us harshly if we do not rise to this moment". That's why, he said, "collectively, our nations have increased our contributions to humanitarian organizations and U.N. appeals this year by some $4.5 billion, and that includes a $1 billion increase this year from the United States. This will translate concretely into lifesaving food, and medicine, and clothing, and shelter".
The governments of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Cameroon, urged donors to scale up their financial support for major host-countries, such as themselves, and to follow through on both old and new commitments.
Noting that the country has spent a quarter of its national budget on refugee related costs during the past year, Jordan said it requires substantial financial support to address the economic set-backs it has suffered as a result.
The commitments made during the Summit were diverse, ranging from policy changes to humanitarian funding support. Whereas some, for example, promised to expand UNHCR-facilitated third-country resettlement programs, others announced they would admit more refugees through family reunification or humanitarian admission visas or changed asylum policies.
At least 17 participating member States made commitments to strengthen and adapt policies in order to improve education and employment opportunities for refugees. According to Obama, the number of refugees to be admitted to participating countries would be roughly doubled to more than 360,000 this year, with the U.S raising this number from 85,000 this year to 110,000 next year.
The European Council, noting that it had raised its humanitarian assistance for refugees to 1.7 billion euros in 2016 - in addition to individual donations from its member states. The EC also committed to prioritizing job creation and education in its future support for host-countries, such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.
In a similar vein, Norway declared that it would prioritize trade, education, job creation as well as good governance in its humanitarian support. Additional funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was promised by The Netherlands, who announced to free up an additional 4 million euros for the agency.
Earlier this year and as part of the wider UN response to the Syrian refugee crisis, the ILO had adopted a development-focused and employment-driven strategy to support host communities and refugees so as to maintain and reinforce the social and economic stability of the affected neighbouring countries (Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt), with projects of a total value of nearly USD 22 million.
Various countries announced support for the World Bank's new Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF), an entity that, as a component of the World Bank's Global Crisis Response Platform (GCRP), seeks to globalize the World Bank's CFF, a financing facility that concentrates on Jordan and Lebanon.
The GCFF will provide grants and loans to low and middle-income host countries to support the financing of education, job creation strategies and the establishment of special economic zones. These efforts, it was stressed, are meant to support and bolster the resilience of both the refugees as well as their host communities.
Ethiopia announced that the country has partnered with both the World Bank and the European Investment Bank in the creation of the new 'Job Creation Compact', which intends to provide 50.000 jobs in Ethiopia, 30 per cent of which will be reserved for refugees. An estimated US$ 500 million will be invested in industrial parks, as part of the Compact. In support of this initiative, the United Kingdom committed to donating around US$ 100 million to the Compact.
Furthermore, the United States promised to donate at least US$ 50 million to the GCFF, while committing to allocate US$ 20 million to the broader GCRP. Japan pledged to donate US$ 100 million to the GCRP, in addition to US$ 2.8 billion in humanitarian assistance, between 2016 and 2018.
Other notable pledges included China, who committed to providing UN and other multilateral agencies with an additional US$ 50 million annually over the next three years, and another US$ 50 million in bilateral assistance, amounting to a total of US$ 300 million in extra assistance.
Finally, Obama also mobilized the private sector for refugees. His Call to Action to businesses brought 51 American companies on board, yielding US$650 million in pledges. More than 75 per cent of this total came from the philanthropist George Soros who pledged to invest US $ 500 million "in startups, established companies, social-impact initiatives and businesses founded by migrants and refugees."