Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

A/RES/79/156View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 60 Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions, published in 2024.

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?

6 subjects

Asylum Seekers Displaced Persons Humanitarian Assistance Refugee Assistance Refugee Protection Statelessness

What’s in this document?

91 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the important work undertaken by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and its Executive Committee in the course of the year, which is aimed at strengthening the international protection regime and assisting Governments in meeting protection responsibilities, and underlines the importance of seeking durable solutions, in an equitable and sustainable manner, and the significance of the Office’s efforts to promote addressing root causes, within its mandate, and enhancing partnerships with relevant actors to address root causes;

Endorses the report of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the work of its seventy-fifth session;

Recognizes the relevance of the Executive Committee’s practice of adopting conclusions on international protection, welcomes the adoption of a conclusion on durable solutions and complementary pathways at its seventy-fifth session, and encourages the Executive Committee to continue the process of adopting conclusions;

Reaffirms the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees³ and the 1967 Protocol thereto⁴ as the foundation of the international refugee protection regime, recognizes the importance of their full and effective application by States parties and the values they embody, notes with satisfaction that 149 States are now parties to one or both instruments, encourages States not parties to consider acceding to those instruments and States parties with reservations to give consideration to withdrawing them, underlines, in particular, the importance of full respect for the principle of non-refoulement, and recognizes that a number of States not parties to the international refugee instruments have shown a generous approach to hosting refugees;

³United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 189, No. 2545.

⁴Ibid., vol. 606, No. 8791.

Urges States that are parties to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol thereto to respect their obligations in letter and spirit;

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, and strongly emphasizes the importance of active international solidarity and equitable burden- and responsibility-sharing;

Welcomes recent accessions to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons⁵ and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness,⁶ notes that 99 States are now parties to the 1954 Convention and 81 States are parties to the 1961 Convention, encourages States that have not done so to give consideration to acceding to those instruments, notes the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees with regard to identifying stateless persons, preventing and reducing statelessness and protecting stateless persons, and urges the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to work in this area in accordance with relevant General Assembly resolutions and Executive Committee conclusions;

⁵Ibid., vol. 360, No. 5158.

⁶Ibid., vol. 989, No. 14458.

Re-emphasizes that prevention and reduction of statelessness are primarily the responsibility of States, in appropriate cooperation with the international community, recognizes the achievements of the I Belong campaign to end statelessness, including through the implementation by States of pledges made at the high-level segment that took place at the start of the seventieth plenary session of the Executive Committee, and welcomes the high-level segment on statelessness that took place at the seventy-fifth plenary session of the Executive Committee, which marked the launch of the Global Alliance to End Statelessness and provided an opportunity to renew collective commitments, and encourages all States to consider actions they may take to further accelerate the prevention and reduction of statelessness;

Also re-emphasizes that protection of, assistance to and achieving durable solutions for internally displaced persons are primarily the responsibility of States, in appropriate cooperation with the international community, in line with applicable international law, and taking into consideration international and regional norms and standards, as appropriate, and welcomes efforts by States to incorporate such applicable norms and standards into domestic law and national development plans, aimed at, inter alia, facilitating voluntary, safe, sustainable and dignified return, local integration or relocation in their own country;

Recognizes the importance of the Secretary-General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement, calls for sustained momentum on this important issue, and encourages the Office of the High Commissioner, within its mandate, to continue contributing to the collective efforts of the United Nations system to advance durable solutions for internally displaced persons, with States;

Notes the activities of the Office of the High Commissioner related to the protection of, assistance to and durable solutions for internally displaced persons, including in the context of inter-agency arrangements in this field, emphasizes that such activities should be carried out with the full consent of the affected States, consistent with relevant General Assembly resolutions, in accordance with the refugee mandate of the Office, and requests the High Commissioner to support States in a transparent and accountable manner;

Encourages the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to respond adequately to emergencies, in accordance with its mandate and in cooperation with States, notes the ongoing measures to reinforce its capacity to respond to emergencies, and encourages the Office to redouble its efforts to ensure a more predictable, effective and timely response;

Also encourages the Office of the High Commissioner to work in partnership and full cooperation with relevant national authorities, United Nations offices and agencies, international and intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations to continue to contribute to the development of humanitarian response capacities at all levels;

Welcomes the efforts by the Office of the High Commissioner to ensure an inclusive, transparent, predictable and well-coordinated response to refugees as well as internally displaced persons and other persons of concern, consistent with its mandate, and in this regard takes note of the refugee coordination model and further notes the need to support host communities and refugees alike in the spirit of leaving no one behind and promoting cohesion and peaceful co-existence;

Notes the significant global, regional and bilateral initiatives, conferences and summits undertaken to strengthen international solidarity with and cooperation for refugees and other persons of concern, and encourages those who participated to implement their commitments made therein;

Recalls the adoption of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants⁷ at the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants, on 19 September 2016, and encourages States to implement relevant commitments made therein;

⁷Resolution 71/1.

Also recalls the Global Compact on Refugees,⁸ affirmed on 17 December 2018,⁹ and calls upon the international community as a whole, including States and other relevant stakeholders, to implement the Compact to achieve its four objectives on an equal footing based on the principle of burden- and responsibility-sharing, and in accordance with the guiding principles and paragraph 4 of the Global Compact on Refugees, through concrete actions, pledges and contributions;

⁸Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-third Session, Supplement No. 12 (A/73/12 (Part I) and A/73/12 (Part II)), part II.

⁹See resolution 73/151.

Calls upon States and other relevant stakeholders to implement the pledges, including pledge matching while prioritizing host countries’ pledges, in the spirit of burden- and responsibility-sharing, and requests the High Commissioner to regularly update Member States on the status of progress in the implementation of the pledges of both the first and second Global Refugee Forums, held in 2019 and 2023;

Underlines the centrality of international cooperation to the refugee protection regime, recognizes the burden that large movements of refugees place on major and long-standing refugee-hosting countries and communities, as well as their national resources, especially in the case of developing countries, and calls for a more equitable sharing of the burden and responsibility for hosting and supporting the world’s refugees, addressing the needs of refugees and hosting States, while taking account of existing contributions and the differing capacities and resources among States;

Welcomes the efforts of host countries receiving refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless persons and other persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner to adopt durable solutions, to give access to social services and to facilitate their integration and inclusion, and calls upon donor countries to support predictable and sustained financing, through bilateral, regional and international cooperation;

Expresses concern over the significant challenges associated with hosting, protecting and integrating refugees in national systems and strategies given socioeconomic difficulties and stretched resources, affecting, inter alia, infrastructure, social security and the provision of protection services, education, health and employment, and stresses the importance of easing pressure on host countries by facilitating more equitable, sustained and predictable burden- and responsibility-sharing among States and other relevant stakeholders;

Invites the Office of the High Commissioner to continue coordinating the effort to effectively measure the impacts arising from hosting, protecting and assisting refugees, with a view to quantifying the impact and assessing gaps in international cooperation and promoting burden- and responsibility-sharing that is more equitable, predictable and sustainable and facilitates pathways for durable solutions, and to report on the results to Member States in 2025, and notes in this regard the organization of workshops on measuring the impact of hosting refugees in the main spending areas such as education, health and basic needs;

Emphasizes the need for robust, well-functioning, concrete arrangements and potential, complementary mechanisms for ensuring predictable, equitable, efficient and effective burden- and responsibility-sharing in the context of the Global Compact on Refugees;

Notes with appreciation the efforts made by the increased number of countries applying the comprehensive refugee response framework that is part of the Global Compact on Refugees, including through regional approaches, where applicable, such as the comprehensive regional protection and solutions framework (MIRPS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development regional approach, the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees and the Central African Republic Solutions Support Platform (CAR-SSP), welcomes the launch and efforts of support platforms established for these mechanisms, as concrete arrangements to support responsibility-sharing, and encourages States, and other stakeholders, to continue their efforts to address the needs of the persons who require international protection, including through support for host communities;

Notes with interest that in 2024 Latin American and Caribbean States are commemorating 40 years of the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, and the regional process, led by Chile, to adopt a Declaration and Plan of Action for the next decade (2024–2034) to promote good practices and address regional challenges on international protection;

Calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner and partners to effectively provide and facilitate further support for States in different situations, in coordination with national authorities, enabling them to build and expand the capacity of national systems to protect persons of concern to the Office and to the communities hosting them, as well as support for durable solutions and emergency responses, consistent with the principles of burden- and responsibility-sharing, taking into account the importance of national ownership and leadership;

Calls upon States and other stakeholders that have not yet contributed to burden- and responsibility-sharing to do so, with a view to broadening the support base, in a spirit of international solidarity and cooperation;

Recognizes the importance of meaningful refugee participation and of integrating the perspectives of refugees and other persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner in humanitarian responses;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to continue improving its humanitarian assistance response and protection, and stresses the importance of tailored, innovative approaches, including effective cash-based interventions;

Highlights the importance for States and the Office of the High Commissioner to have, when possible, high-quality and disaggregated data, in accordance with data protection and data privacy principles, and stresses the importance of interoperable data collection and analysis within the United Nations system, consistent with relevant United Nations provisions relating to data, further calls for strengthened coordination in this regard, and welcomes the collaboration of the Office of the High Commissioner with key data actors, development partners and States, including through the Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement, in order to promote evidence-based programming and policymaking at all levels to better target and monitor assistance;

Encourages the Office of the High Commissioner and States to enhance data management practices, ensuring data protection and privacy in line with applicable laws;

Encourages the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to work with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat to enhance the coordination, effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian response and to contribute, in consultation with States, as appropriate, to making further progress towards common humanitarian needs assessments, as stated, among other important issues, in General Assembly resolution 78/119 on the strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations, and recalls the role of the Office of the High Commissioner as the leading entity of the clusters for protection, camp coordination and camp management and emergency shelter in complex emergencies;

Recognizes the importance of a comprehensive and principled approach to humanitarian response, in both protracted and emerging situations, including through early recovery activities, to strengthen the resilience of the persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner and their access to basic services;

Welcomes the active engagement of the Office of the High Commissioner in the United Nations development system reform, including as part of broader efforts towards generating system-wide effectiveness, transparency, accountability and efficiencies;

Expresses deep concern about the increasing threats to the safety and security of humanitarian aid workers, facilities and convoys and, in particular, the loss of life of humanitarian personnel working in the most difficult and challenging conditions in order to assist those in need, and calls upon all States and parties to armed conflict to fulfil their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and humanitarian personnel and facilities;

Strongly condemns attacks and all forms of violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, threats and intimidation, against humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel, including national and locally recruited personnel and their premises and assets, including humanitarian supplies, facilities and transports, in violation of international humanitarian law; and in particular urges parties to armed conflict to respect the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution in the conduct of hostilities and refrain from attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population;

Emphasizes the need for States to ensure that perpetrators of attacks committed on their territory against humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel do not act with impunity and that the perpetrators of such acts are promptly brought to justice as provided for by national laws and obligations under international law;

Strongly condemns attacks on refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless persons and internally displaced persons and acts that pose a threat to their personal security and well-being, calls upon all States concerned and, where applicable, parties involved in an armed conflict to take all measures necessary to respect and ensure respect for human rights, and international humanitarian law, and urges all States to fight racism and all forms of discrimination and intolerance, including racial discrimination, xenophobia, hate speech, stigmatization and stereotyping;

Urges States to uphold the civilian and humanitarian character of camps and settlements for refugees and internally displaced persons, inter alia, through effective measures to prevent the infiltration of armed elements, to identify and separate any such armed elements from refugees, to settle refugees and internally displaced persons in secure locations and to afford to the Office of the High Commissioner and, where appropriate, to other humanitarian organizations prompt, unhindered and safe access to asylum-seekers, refugees and other persons of concern;

Emphasizes that the international protection of refugees is a dynamic and action-oriented function that is at the core of the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner and that it includes, in cooperation with States and other partners, the promotion and facilitation of the admission, reception and treatment of refugees in accordance with internationally agreed standards and the ensuring of durable, protection-oriented solutions, bearing in mind the particular needs of the most vulnerable, and notes in this context that the delivery of international protection is a staff-intensive service that requires adequate staff with the appropriate expertise, especially at the field level;

Calls upon States to process asylum applications by duly identifying those in need of international protection, in accordance with their applicable international and regional obligations, so as to strengthen the refugee protection regime;

Deplores the growing number of incidents of refoulement and unlawful expulsion of refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as practices of denial of access to asylum, and calls upon all States concerned to respect the relevant principles of refugee protection and human rights;

Stresses the importance of preventing abuse of asylum systems, including for political purposes, in order to safeguard the efficiency and functionality of asylum systems for those in need of international protection and to process asylum applications in accordance with the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees, and further urges States to cooperate in finding solutions to address onward movements;

Notes with increasing concern that asylum-seekers, refugees and stateless persons are subject to arbitrary detention in numerous situations and encourages working towards the ending of this practice, welcomes the increasing use of alternatives to detention, especially in the case of children, and emphasizes the need for States to limit detention of asylum-seekers, refugees and stateless persons to that which is necessary, giving full consideration to possible alternatives;

Notes with grave concern the significant risks to which many persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner are exposed as they attempt to reach safety, and encourages international cooperation to step up efforts to prevent and combat human trafficking and smuggling and to ensure adequate response mechanisms, including, as appropriate, life-saving measures, reception, registration and assistance, including trauma-informed assistance for victims of human trafficking and smuggling, as well as to ensure that safe and regular access to asylum for persons in need of international protection remains open and accessible;

Expresses grave concern at the large number of asylum-seekers who have lost their lives or gone missing at sea and on land trying to reach safety, encourages international cooperation to further strengthen prevention, search and rescue mechanisms that are in accordance with international law, and commends the great life-saving efforts and actions taken by a number of States in this regard;

Notes that the lack of civil registration and related documentation makes persons vulnerable to statelessness and associated protection risks, including the risk of being victims of human trafficking, recognizes that birth registration provides an official record of a child’s legal identity and is crucial to preventing and reducing statelessness, and welcomes efforts by States to ensure the birth registration of children and other essential documentation;

Notes with concern that arbitrary deprivation of nationality pushes persons into statelessness and is a source of widespread suffering, and calls upon States to refrain from adopting discriminatory measures and from enacting or maintaining legislation that would arbitrarily revoke citizenship of their nationals, rendering a person stateless;

Expresses grave concern over the unprecedented scale of the global food security and nutrition crisis and the impacts this will have on persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner, who are already in a situation of vulnerability, and calls upon States, humanitarian and development organizations and other relevant partners to take coordinated and immediate action to save lives and reduce suffering in countries at risk of famine, food insecurity, hunger and acute malnutrition, and in this regard takes note of the work of the Secretary-General’s Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance and the Committee on World Food Security, bearing in mind its resolution 76/264 of 23 May 2022 on the state of global food insecurity and measures contained to reinforce global food security;

Also expresses grave concern about the negative long-term impact of continued cuts in food rations on the nutrition, health and well-being of refugees and hosting communities globally and especially its impacts on women and children, owing to insufficient funding and increased costs, and calls upon donors to ensure sustained support for the Office of the High Commissioner and the World Food Programme, with contributions, including flexible, particularly unearmarked funding, while looking to provide refugees with alternatives to food assistance, pending a durable solution;

Recognizes that pandemics and public health emergencies of international concern require a global response to ensure that all States, in particular developing States, including refugee-hosting countries as well as the countries of origin, have universal, timely, effective and equitable access to safe and effective diagnostics, therapeutics, medicines, vaccines and medical supplies and equipment, calls upon States and other partners to consider funding and explore innovative financing initiatives aimed at facilitating equitable access to vaccines during pandemics and other health emergencies for all, including persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner and their host communities, bearing in mind that extensive immunization in case of future pandemics and other health emergencies is a global public good for health in preventing, containing and stopping transmission, stresses the need to ensure that refugees can access correct information to avoid the negative impact of disinformation and misinformation, and also stresses the need to adequately prepare for and respond to future pandemics and public health emergencies of international concern;

Encourages States and the Office of the High Commissioner to address mental health and psychosocial well-being by promoting the availability and affordability of mental health and psychosocial support to persons of concern to the Office, as well as host communities, and encourages the further strengthening of such measures, including through additional international support;

Recognizes the generosity of host countries and their differentiated experiences and situations, and in particular welcomes the positive steps taken by individual States to open their labour markets to refugees, and calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner to strengthen the coordination with the private sector and international financial institutions for investment in host countries and countries of origin to ease pressures on host countries, enhance refugee self-reliance, and support conditions in countries of origin for voluntary repatriation in safety and dignity;

Notes with appreciation the contributions of refugees in host countries and countries of resettlement, including facilitating the generation of decent work opportunities, with the purpose of developing sustainable livelihoods until durable solutions are achieved, and recalls that further international cooperation is needed in support of host communities, particularly in long-standing refugee-hosting countries;

Notes the importance of age, gender and diversity mainstreaming in analysing protection needs and ensuring the participation of refugees and other persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner, as appropriate, in the planning and implementation of programmes of the Office and of State policies, affirms the importance of according priority to addressing discrimination, gender inequality and the problem of sexual and gender-based violence, recognizing the importance of addressing the protection needs and rights of women, children and persons with disabilities in particular, through an inclusive approach, and underlines the importance of continuing to work on those issues;

Encourages States and the Office of the High Commissioner to ensure that the perspectives of women and girls in situations of displacement are taken into account by promoting their meaningful participation in matters affecting them, as well as women’s full and equal participation in the design, implementation, follow-up and evaluation of policies, programmes and activities related to humanitarian response;

Calls upon Member States, in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner and with the support of other stakeholders, to ensure that the humanitarian needs of persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner, and their host communities, including clean water, food and nutrition, shelter, education, livelihoods, energy, health, including sexual and reproductive health, and other protection needs, are addressed as components of humanitarian response, including through providing timely and adequate resources, while ensuring that their collaborative efforts fully adhere to humanitarian principles;

Calls upon States, the Office of the High Commissioner and other stakeholders to continue to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women, and in this regard urges Member States, in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner, and with the support of other stakeholders, to ensure reliable and safe access for persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, as well as basic healthcare services and psychosocial support from the onset of emergencies, while recognizing that relevant services are important in order to effectively meet the needs of women and adolescent girls and infants and protect them from preventable mortality and morbidity that occur in humanitarian emergencies;

Encourages States to put in place appropriate systems and procedures to ensure that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration with regard to all actions concerning refugee children and to protect them from all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence, while taking into account the situation of those with disabilities;

Encourages States and the Office of the High Commissioner to support and enable the full and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities, including those in particularly vulnerable situations, and their representative organizations, in the design, implementation, follow-up and evaluation of policies, programmes and activities related to humanitarian response, and to consult relevant experts on the rights of persons with disabilities, and further requests the Office to continue its work on the implementation of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy and to regularly report to the Executive Committee on its progress;

Notes with concern that a large proportion of the world’s out-of-school population lives in conflict-affected areas, and calls upon States, in their implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees, to lend support to host countries in providing quality primary, secondary and tertiary education in safe learning environments for all refugee children, youth and adults, and to develop more inclusive, responsive and resilient education systems to meet the needs of children, youth and adults in these contexts, including internally displaced persons and refugees,¹⁰ and underlines the importance of quality education in countries of origin and the role of international cooperation in this regard;

¹⁰See United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Final Report of the World Education Forum 2015, Incheon, Republic of Korea, 19–22 May 2015 (Paris, 2015).

Welcomes the increased attention and efforts of the Office of the High Commissioner to address and respond to matters related to the impact of climate change and environmental degradation in its work, including the adoption of the Strategic Framework for Climate Action, within its mandate, in consultation with national authorities and in cooperation with competent agencies;

Calls upon States to take appropriate measures to address climate change, including with a view to building local and national resilience and capacity to prevent, prepare for and respond to displacement in this context, in particular in developing countries, including in small island developing States and the least developed countries;

Encourages States and the Office of the High Commissioner, within its protection mandate, to improve the resilience of both forcibly displaced persons and their host communities in the context of adverse effects of climate change and disasters through enhanced strategic partnerships, including with support from donors;

Calls upon donors, the Office of the High Commissioner and other stakeholders to mobilize and provide additional support for adaptation and mitigation of environmental impacts of hosting large numbers of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons, including by supporting renewable energy, environmental protection and rehabilitation initiatives for refugees and other forcibly displaced persons and their host communities, including through the Climate Resilience Fund of the Office of the High Commissioner;

Recalls that the work of the High Commissioner shall be of an entirely non-political character; it shall be humanitarian and social and shall relate, as a rule, to groups and categories of refugees, in accordance with the statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;

Recognizes the importance of achieving durable solutions to refugee situations and, in particular, the need to address in this process their root causes, and urges countries of origin to commit to their human rights obligations towards their nationals as a preventative measure to reduce forced displacement;

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 durable solutions for them and for refugee situations, and recalls that those solutions include voluntary repatriation and, where appropriate and feasible, local integration and resettlement in a third country, while reaffirming that voluntary repatriation, supported, as necessary, by rehabilitation and development assistance to facilitate sustainable reintegration, remains the preferred solution;

Expresses concern about the particular difficulties faced by the millions of refugees and their hosting communities in protracted situations, recognizes with deep concern that the average length of stay has continued to grow, and emphasizes the need to redouble international efforts and cooperation to find practical and comprehensive approaches to resolving the plight of refugees, to strengthen peace efforts and address violent conflict and to realize durable solutions, consistent with international law and relevant General Assembly resolutions;

Encourages further efforts by the Office of the High Commissioner, in cooperation with countries hosting refugees and countries of origin, including their respective local communities, relevant United Nations agencies, international and intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations, as appropriate, non-governmental organizations and development actors, to actively promote durable solutions, particularly in protracted refugee situations, with a focus on sustainable, timely, voluntary, safe and dignified return, which encompasses repatriation, reintegration, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities, and encourages States and other relevant actors to continue to support these efforts through, inter alia, the allocation of funds and strengthening humanitarian, development and peace efforts, particularly in countries of origin;

Recalls the purely humanitarian and non-political character of the Office of the High Commissioner, calls upon the international community and the Office to coordinate and exert further efforts to promote and facilitate, whenever the prevailing circumstances are deemed appropriate, the safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation of refugees, through their free and informed choice, in a sustainable manner and in full respect of the principle of non-refoulement, to their countries of origin, and encourages the Office and, where appropriate, other United Nations agencies, to mobilize further resources in this regard;

Encourages the solution-oriented approach pursued by the Office of the High Commissioner to support the sustainability of voluntary repatriation and reintegration, including from the onset of displacement, and in this regard urges the Office to further strengthen partnerships with national Governments and development actors, as well as international financial institutions, to create conducive conditions in countries of origin for voluntary repatriation and reintegration in safety and dignity;

Recognizes, in the context of voluntary repatriation, the importance of resolute efforts in the country of origin, including rehabilitation and development assistance, to foster the voluntary, safe and dignified return and sustainable reintegration of refugees and to ensure the restoration of national protection;

Acknowledges with appreciation voluntary action taken by several host countries to enable permanent residence and naturalization for refugees and former refugees;

Recognizes the importance of resettlement as a strategic protection tool and a durable solution for refugees in reducing the pressure on refugee-hosting countries in protracted situations, as a measure for international protection, as well as in opening possibilities for other durable solutions;

Calls upon States and the Office of the High Commissioner to create expanded opportunities for inclusive and non-discriminatory resettlement as a durable solution, broaden the base of countries and actors engaged, expand the scope and size, and maximize the protection and quality of resettlement as an invaluable tool for burden- and responsibility-sharing, and acknowledges with appreciation countries that continue to offer enhanced resettlement opportunities;

Reaffirms that accelerating complementary pathways to solutions, including through implementation of the Executive Committee conclusion on durable solutions and complementary pathways, is crucial for addressing protracted refugee situations, and recognizes the importance of the work of the Office of the High Commissioner for seeking durable solutions for refugees, in accordance with its mandate;

Calls upon States to consider creating, expanding or facilitating access to complementary and sustainable pathways to protection and solutions for refugees, in cooperation with relevant partners, including the private sector, where appropriate, including through humanitarian admission or transfer, family reunification, skilled migration, labour mobility schemes, scholarships and education mobility schemes;

Notes the importance of States and the Office of the High Commissioner discussing and clarifying the role of the Office in mixed movements in order to better address protection needs of persons under the mandate of the Office in the context of mixed movements, especially unregistered persons in need of international protection, bearing in mind the particular needs of persons in vulnerable situations, especially women, children and persons with disabilities, including by safeguarding access to asylum for those in need of international protection, and also notes the readiness of the High Commissioner, consistent with his mandate, to assist States in fulfilling their protection responsibilities in this regard;

Acknowledges existing disparities between the numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers registered and the persons in need of international protection, and the need to strengthen registration capacities, particularly in protracted refugee situations;

Emphasizes the obligation of all States to accept the return of their nationals, calls upon States to facilitate the return of their nationals who have been determined not to be in need of international protection, in collaboration with the Office of the High Commissioner and other relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, 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;

Notes the transformation process that the High Commissioner is implementing to establish clearer authorities and lines of accountability, including through regionalization and decentralization, to enable a more timely, relevant and efficient response to the needs of persons of concern and to ensure the accountable, effective, efficient and transparent use of the Office’s resources;

Affirms the importance of a geographically diverse, inclusive and representative workforce, with a view to reflecting the international character of the Office of the High Commissioner, and calls upon the Office to take effective measures to ensure balanced geographical representation across the regions, in particular from underrepresented States and large refugee-hosting States, among its workforce both at headquarters and in the field, with due consideration for gender parity, racial equality, disability and age, particularly at the senior level, which will also promote a better understanding of the working environment;

Welcomes the commitment and efforts of the Office of the High Commissioner to prevent, mitigate and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, fraud, corruption and other forms of misconduct, and encourages the Office to continue to strengthen its internal oversight and accountability mechanisms, enforcing the zero-tolerance approach;

Expresses concern that the needs required to protect and assist persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner continue to increase and that the gap between global needs and available resources continues to grow, appreciates the continued and increasing hospitality of host countries and generosity of donors, and therefore calls upon the Office to further enhance efforts to broaden its donor base so as to achieve greater burden- and responsibility-sharing by reinforcing cooperation with governmental donors, non-governmental donors and the private sector;

Recognizes that adequate and timely resources are essential for the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to fulfil the mandate conferred upon it through its statute¹¹ and by subsequent General Assembly resolutions on refugees and other persons of concern, recalls its resolution 58/153 of 22 December 2003 and subsequent resolutions on the Office of the High Commissioner concerning, inter alia, the implementation of paragraph 20 of the statute of the Office, and urges Governments and other donors to respond promptly to annual and supplementary appeals issued by the Office for requirements under its programmes, with contributions, including flexible, particularly unearmarked funding;

¹¹Resolution 428 (V), annex.

Acknowledges with appreciation the cooperation of the Office of the High Commissioner with development partners, noting the advantages of complementarity of funding sources to support refugees and host communities as requested by host Governments, and the importance of doing so in a manner that does not negatively impact or reduce support for broader development objectives in host countries and, where appropriate, countries of origin;

Renews its call upon all States and other relevant stakeholders to provide the necessary support for the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees and its comprehensive refugee response framework with a view to sharing the burden and responsibilities for hosting and supporting refugees, while recognizing contributions already made to ensure timely, adequate, flexible and needs-driven humanitarian assistance, and underscores the critical importance of additional development support over and above regular development assistance for host countries and countries of origin in a spirit of partnership, respecting country ownership and leadership;

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, including through financial and in-kind assistance, as well as direct aid to host countries, countries of origin, refugees and the communities hosting them, with a view to enhancing their capacity and reducing the heavy burden borne by countries and communities hosting refugees, in particular those that have received large numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers, and whose generosity is appreciated;

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 environmental, development, security and social impacts and economic and financial constraints faced by developing countries hosting refugees, in particular the least developed countries, and countries with economies in transition, and notes with appreciation those States, organizations and individuals that contribute to improving the conditions for refugees through building their resilience and that of their host communities, while working towards addressing root causes and the attainment of durable solutions;

Requests the High Commissioner to report on his annual activities to the General Assembly at its eightieth session.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What else is in this group?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents