More than 42 million people around the world have been forcibly displaced from their homes and communities. More than a million fled their countries in the last eighteen months alone due to a wave of conflicts, in Côte d'Ivoire, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Sudan and Syria. These numbers represent far more than statistics; they are individuals and families whose lives have been upended, whose communities have been destroyed, and whose future remains uncertain.
World Refugee Day is a moment to remember all those affected, and a time to intensify our support.
Four out of five refugees are in developing countries, and have benefitted from the remarkable generosity of host countries that themselves face serious deprivations. The Islamic Republics of Pakistan and Iran host the largest number of refugees, with over two and half million between them. Tunisia and Liberia are also among countries that, despite their own national challenges, maintained open borders and shared scarce water, land and other resources for those suffering the impact of armed violence.
Kenya’s third biggest city is a refugee camp and hosts over half a million Somalis, many in their third decade of exile. Niger, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso — suffering famine and drought — now host some 175,000 refugees fleeing conflict in Mali. These countries cannot be left to shoulder this burden alone.
The United Nations — and in particular the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees — is working to address all of these challenges, while also providing protection and assistance to 15.5 million persons displaced within their own countries. We are also focusing on preventing and reducing statelessness. But humanitarian assistance is not enough.
The recent UNHCR Global Trends report shows that displacement is outpacing solutions. We must work together to mobilize the political will and leadership to prevent and end the conflicts that trigger refugee flows. Where security is restored, we must address the underlying causes of conflict, allowing sustainable refugee return through access to livelihoods, services and the rule of law.
Despite budget constraints everywhere, we must not turn away from those in need. Refugees leave because they have no choice. We must choose to help.
Ban Ki-moon
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
UNHCR's "Global Trends 2011" report
Global Trends Report: 800,000 new refugees in 2011, highest this century
GENEVA, June 18 (UNHCR)
A report released today by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees shows 2011 to have been a record year for forced displacement across borders, with more people becoming refugees than at any time since 2000.
UNHCR's "Global Trends 2011" report details for the first time the extent of forced displacement from a string of major humanitarian crises that began in late 2010 in Côte d'Ivoire, and was quickly followed by others in Libya, Somalia, Sudan and elsewhere. In all, 4.3 million people were newly displaced, with a full 800,000 of these fleeing their countries and becoming refugees.
"2011 saw suffering on an epic scale. For so many lives to have been thrown into turmoil over so short a space of time means enormous personal cost for all who were affected," said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. "We can be grateful only that the international system for protecting such people held firm for the most part and that borders stayed open. These are testing times."
Worldwide, 42.5 million people ended 2011 either as refugees (15.2 million), internally displaced (26.4 million) or in the process of seeking asylum (895,000). Despite the high number of new refugees, the overall figure was lower than the 2010 total of 43.7 million people, due mainly to the offsetting effect of large numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs) returning home: 3.2 million, the highest rate of returns of IDPs in more than a decade. Among refugees, and notwithstanding an increase in voluntary repatriation over 2010 levels, 2011 was the third lowest year for returns (532,000) in a decade.
Viewed on a 10-year basis, the report shows several worrying trends: One is that forced displacement is affecting larger numbers of people globally, with the annual level exceeding 42 million people for each of the last five years. Another is that a person who becomes a refugee is likely to remain as one for many years – often stuck in a camp or living precariously in an urban location. Of the 10.4 million refugees under UNHCR's mandate, almost three quarters (7.1 million) have been in exile for at least five years awaiting a solution.
Overall, Afghanistan remains the biggest producer of refugees (2.7 million) followed by Iraq (1.4 million), Somalia (1.1 million), Sudan (500,000) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (491,000).
Around four-fifths of the world's refugees flee to their neighbouring countries, reflected in the large refugee populations seen, for example, in Pakistan (1.7 million people), Iran (886,500), Kenya (566,500) and Chad (366,500).
Among industrialized countries, Germany ranks as the largest hosting country with 571,700 refugees. South Africa, meanwhile, was the largest recipient of individual asylum applications (107,000), a status it has held for the past four years.
UNHCR's original mandate was to help refugees, but in the six decades since the agency was established in 1950 its work has grown to include helping many of the world's internally displaced people and those who are stateless (those lacking recognized citizenship and the human rights that accompany this).
The Global Trends 2011 report notes that only 64 governments provided data on stateless people, meaning that UNHCR was able to capture numbers for only around a quarter of the estimated 12 million stateless people worldwide.
Of the 42.5 million people who were in a state of forced displacement as of the end of last year, not all fall under UNHCR's care: Some 4.8 million refugees, for example, are registered with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Among the 26.4 million internally displaced, 15.5 million receive UNHCR assistance and protection. Overall, UNHCR's refugee and IDP caseload of 25.9 million people grew by 700,000 people in 2011.
The Global Trends report is UNHCR's main annual report on the state of forced displacement. Additional data is published annually in the agency's Statistical Yearbooks, and in twice-yearly reports on asylum applications in industrialized nations.
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Monday, 18 June 2012
No one chooses to be a refugee.
UNHCR's 2012 World Refugee Day global
social advocacy campaign, "Dilemmas", aims to help fight intolerance and
xenophobia against refugees.
UNHCR Goodwill Envoy Khaled Hosseini and a
host of other celebrities echo the same strong message:
No one chooses to be a refugee.
You can help: Visit http://www.WorldRefugeeDay.us now to make a difference.
No one chooses to be a refugee.
You can help: Visit http://www.WorldRefugeeDay.us now to make a difference.
Sunday, 17 June 2012
World Day to Combat Desertification is observed every year on 17 June.
12 June 2012
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Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York
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‘Without Healthy Soil, Life on Earth is Unsustainable,’ Says Secretary-General, Urging States to Ensure Sustainable Land Management Part of Rio+20 Legacy
Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message on the World Day to Combat Desertification, which is observed 17 June:
The World Day to Combat Desertification falls this year on the eve of the
United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development. Global efforts to halt and reverse land degradation are
integral to creating the future we want. Sustainable land use is a
prerequisite for lifting billions from poverty, enabling food and
nutrition security, and safeguarding water supplies. It is a
cornerstone of sustainable development.
The people who live in the
world’s arid lands, which occupy more than 40 per cent of our planet’s
land area, are among the poorest and most vulnerable to hunger. We will
not achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 without preserving
the soils on which their subsistence depends.
Nor will we be able to
guarantee our freshwater resources, 70 per cent of which are already
used for agriculture. By 2030, the demand for water is projected to
rise by 35 per cent. Unless we change our land-use practices, we face
the prospect of diminishing and inadequate water supplies, as well as
more frequent and intense droughts.
Further, by 2050, we will
need sufficient productive land to feed an estimated 9 billion people
with per capita consumption levels greater than those of today. This
will be impossible if soil loss continues at its current pace — an
annual loss of 75 billion tons. Important land-use decisions need to be
made, as well as critical investments ranging from extension services
for small farmers to the latest technology to support environmentally
sustainable mass food production.
Rio+20 is our opportunity
to showcase the many smart and effective land management systems and
options that exist or are in the pipeline. Twenty years on from the
adoption of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, let
us ensure that a commitment to sustainable land management features
prominently in the official outcome at Rio and in the wider mobilization
for sustainability that will also be part of Rio’s legacy. Without
healthy soil, life on Earth is unsustainable.
* *** *
For information media • not an official record
UN officials stress importance of healthy soils to sustainable development
 Photo: WFP/Phil Behan |
| Photo: WFP/Phil Behan |
“Without healthy soil, life on Earth is unsustainable,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in his message
for the World Day to Combat Desertification, which is observed annually
on 17 June and falls this year on the eve of the UN Conference on
Sustainable Development.
“Global efforts to halt and reverse land degradation are integral to creating the future we want,” Mr. Ban said. “Sustainable land use is a prerequisite for lifting billions from poverty, enabling food and nutrition security, and safeguarding water supplies. It is a cornerstone of sustainable development.”
The upcoming sustainable development conference, to be held from 20 to 22 June in Rio de Janeiro, follows on from the Earth Summit held in the same city in 1992, during which desertification, along with climate change and the loss of biodiversity, were identified as the greatest challenges to sustainable development.
Over 100 heads of State and government, along with thousands of parliamentarians, mayors, UN officials, chief executive officers and civil society leaders will gather at “Rio+20” to shape new policies to promote prosperity, reduce poverty and advance social equity and environmental protection.
“Rio+20 is our opportunity to showcase the many smart and effective land management systems and options that exist or are in the pipeline,” said Mr. Ban, calling on countries to ensure that a commitment to sustainable land management features prominently in the meeting's outcome.
Speaking to reporters in Rio yesterday, Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), called on countries to reiterate their commitment at the conference to combat desertification and achieve zero net land degradation by 2030.
“Efforts to combat desertification by fostering sustainable land management practices have potential co-benefits for climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use through protecting and restoring the productive potential in drylands,” he stated.
While only three per cent of the Earth is fertile land, 75 billion tonnes of fertile soil are lost every year, Mr. Gnacadja said, making it more essential to focus on policies that will help regenerate the soil.
In a separate message to mark the Day, Mr. Gnacadja noted that, as the global population is growing, competing claims on this finite resource are sharply increasing.
By 2030, the demand for food is expected to grow by 50 per cent and for energy and water for 45 and 30 per cent respectively. The demand for food alone is likely to claim an additional 120 million hectares of productive land – an area equal to the size of South Africa. Unless degraded land is rehabilitated, forests and other lands will have to make way for the required food production.
Mr. Gnacadja said world leaders at Rio+20 need to adopt a stand-alone goal on sustainable land use for all and by all. “To achieve this goal, we need to avoid land degradation in the non-degraded areas and restore soil fertility in the already degraded lands. We also need to avoid deforestation and adopt drought preparedness policies in all drought-prone countries and regions.”
He added that governments should introduce sustainable land-use into their policies, make it their priority and set up national targets to halt land degradation. Businesses should invest in practices that increase efficiency in land-use. Scientists, media and civil society should help spread the word that this goal is crucial.
“Together, we can make this paradigm shift,” said the Executive Secretary.
As part of the events in Rio to mark the Day, the winners of the Land for Life Award will be announced today by the reigning Miss Universe 2011, Leila Lopes, who is also the UNCCD Drylands Ambassador. The award, with a total prize fund of $100,000, recognizes innovations from around the world that show tangible evidence of combating land degradation, but need scaling up.
“Global efforts to halt and reverse land degradation are integral to creating the future we want,” Mr. Ban said. “Sustainable land use is a prerequisite for lifting billions from poverty, enabling food and nutrition security, and safeguarding water supplies. It is a cornerstone of sustainable development.”
The upcoming sustainable development conference, to be held from 20 to 22 June in Rio de Janeiro, follows on from the Earth Summit held in the same city in 1992, during which desertification, along with climate change and the loss of biodiversity, were identified as the greatest challenges to sustainable development.
Over 100 heads of State and government, along with thousands of parliamentarians, mayors, UN officials, chief executive officers and civil society leaders will gather at “Rio+20” to shape new policies to promote prosperity, reduce poverty and advance social equity and environmental protection.
“Rio+20 is our opportunity to showcase the many smart and effective land management systems and options that exist or are in the pipeline,” said Mr. Ban, calling on countries to ensure that a commitment to sustainable land management features prominently in the meeting's outcome.
Speaking to reporters in Rio yesterday, Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), called on countries to reiterate their commitment at the conference to combat desertification and achieve zero net land degradation by 2030.
“Efforts to combat desertification by fostering sustainable land management practices have potential co-benefits for climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use through protecting and restoring the productive potential in drylands,” he stated.
While only three per cent of the Earth is fertile land, 75 billion tonnes of fertile soil are lost every year, Mr. Gnacadja said, making it more essential to focus on policies that will help regenerate the soil.
In a separate message to mark the Day, Mr. Gnacadja noted that, as the global population is growing, competing claims on this finite resource are sharply increasing.
By 2030, the demand for food is expected to grow by 50 per cent and for energy and water for 45 and 30 per cent respectively. The demand for food alone is likely to claim an additional 120 million hectares of productive land – an area equal to the size of South Africa. Unless degraded land is rehabilitated, forests and other lands will have to make way for the required food production.
Mr. Gnacadja said world leaders at Rio+20 need to adopt a stand-alone goal on sustainable land use for all and by all. “To achieve this goal, we need to avoid land degradation in the non-degraded areas and restore soil fertility in the already degraded lands. We also need to avoid deforestation and adopt drought preparedness policies in all drought-prone countries and regions.”
He added that governments should introduce sustainable land-use into their policies, make it their priority and set up national targets to halt land degradation. Businesses should invest in practices that increase efficiency in land-use. Scientists, media and civil society should help spread the word that this goal is crucial.
“Together, we can make this paradigm shift,” said the Executive Secretary.
As part of the events in Rio to mark the Day, the winners of the Land for Life Award will be announced today by the reigning Miss Universe 2011, Leila Lopes, who is also the UNCCD Drylands Ambassador. The award, with a total prize fund of $100,000, recognizes innovations from around the world that show tangible evidence of combating land degradation, but need scaling up.
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