Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

A/RES/56/137View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 114 Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions, published in 2002.

What else is in this group?

42 documents · 1987–2025

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2025).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/187	Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees	6,895	–
2024	A/RES/79/156	Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees	6,823	–
2023	A/RES/78/184	Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees	6,064	–
2022	A/RES/77/198	Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees	6,053	–
2022	A/RES/76/143	Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees	5,375	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

What subjects does this mandate have?

13 subjects

Asylum Seekers Displaced Persons Economies in Transition International Instruments Refugee Assistance Refugee Protection Rehabilitation Repatriation Resettlement Resources Mobilization Signatures, Accessions, Ratifications Statelessness Territorial Asylum

What’s in this document?

13 operative paragraphs

Endorses the report of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the work of its fifty-second session;Error: Reference source not found

Welcomes the fiftieth anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees,⁵ notes that the Convention and the 1967 Protocol thereto⁶ have continuously served as the cornerstone of the international refugee protection regime, and welcomes in this context the convening of a ministerial meeting of States parties as an expression of their collective commitment to full and effective implementation of the Convention and Protocol and the values they embody;

⁵United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 189, No. 2545.

⁶Ibid., vol. 606, No. 8791.

Reaffirms that the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol remain the foundation of the international refugee regime and recognizes the importance of their full application by States parties, notes with satisfaction that one hundred and forty-one States are now parties to one or both instruments, encourages the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and States to strengthen their efforts to promote broader accession to those instruments and their full implementation, and underlines in particular the importance of full respect for the principle of non-refoulement;

Notes that fifty-three States are now parties to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons⁷ and that twenty-five States are parties to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness,⁸ and encourages the High Commissioner to continue his activities on behalf of stateless persons;

⁷Ibid., vol. 360, No. 5158.

⁸Ibid., vol. 989, No. 14458.

Welcomes the process of Global Consultations on International Protection launched by the Office of the High Commissioner, and acknowledges their importance as a forum for open discussion on complex legal and operational protection issues;

Reiterates that international protection is a dynamic and action-oriented function, carried out in cooperation with States and other partners, inter alia, to promote and facilitate the admission, reception and treatment of refugees and to ensure durable, protection-oriented solutions, bearing in mind the particular needs of vulnerable groups;

Re-emphasizes that the protection of refugees is primarily the responsibility of States, whose full and effective cooperation, action and political resolve are required to enable the Office of the High Commissioner to fulfil its mandated functions;

Urges all States and relevant non-governmental and other organizations, in conjunction with the Office of the High Commissioner, in a spirit of international solidarity and burden- and responsibility-sharing, to cooperate and to mobilize resources with a view to enhancing the capacity of States and reducing the heavy burden borne by them, in particular by developing countries and countries with economies in transition that have received large numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers, and calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to play its catalytic role in mobilizing assistance from the international community to address the root causes as well as the economic, environmental and social impact of large-scale refugee populations, especially in developing countries and countries with economies in transition;

Strongly reaffirms the fundamental importance and the purely humanitarian and non-political character of the function of the Office of the High Commissioner of providing international protection to refugees and seeking permanent solutions to refugee problems, recalls that these solutions include voluntary repatriation and, where appropriate and feasible, local integration and resettlement in a third country, reaffirming that voluntary repatriation remains the preferred solution, supported by necessary rehabilitation and development assistance, to facilitate sustainable reintegration;

Emphasizes the obligation of all States to accept the return of their nationals, calls upon all States to facilitate the return of their nationals who have been determined not to be in need of international protection, and affirms the need for the return of persons to be undertaken in a safe and humane manner and with full respect for their human rights and dignity, irrespective of the status of the persons concerned;

Recognizes that adequate and timely resources are essential to the High Commissioner to discharge effectively his mandated functions on an equitable basis, and urges Governments and other donors to respond promptly to the global appeal issued by his Office for requirements under its annual programme budget;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner, with that sustained support, to continue to fulfil the mandate conferred upon it by its statute and by subsequent General Assembly resolutions regarding refugees and other persons of concern, in close cooperation with its relevant partners;

Requests the High Commissioner to report on his activities to the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session, and to include in his report the results of the Global Consultations on International Protection.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What else is in this group?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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