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UNCLAS GENEVA 000281 
 
 
PRM REFCOORDS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREF PREL
SUBJECT: UNHCR 44TH STANDING COMMITTEE: FOCUS ON REFUGEE 
REINTEGRATION, IDPS, AND PROTRACTED REFUGEE SITUATIONS 
 
REF: A. GENEVA 238 
     ¶B. GENEVA 250 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY.  During the Office of the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR's) March 3-5, 2008 Standing 
Committee meeting, UNHCR managers briefed Member States on 
progress made in three thematic areas:  a) return and 
reintegration of displaced populations; b) the global work 
plan for internally displaced persons (IDPs) operations and 
progress on mainstreaming these efforts into UNHCR's regular 
operations; and c) the High Commissioner's 2008 Dialogue on 
protracted refugee situations.  Ensuring stronger 
coordination between UNHCR and UN agencies, governments, NGOs 
and development actors, as well as ensuring that UNHCR 
focuses on its mandated responsibilities were the key 
messages to UNHCR by Standing Committee members under this 
agenda item.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------- 
Return and Reintegration 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Assistant High Commissioner for Operations (AHC-O) 
Judy Cheng-Hopkins presented an update on implementation of 
UNHCR's policy framework and strategy in support of the 
return and reintegration of displaced populations.  Since 
issuing its reintegration policy framework in September 2008, 
UNHCR has been actively supporting operations and working 
with partners to put this policy into practice.  UNHCR's 
overarching objective is to be more assertive in engaging in 
early recovery programs located in areas where refugees 
and/or IDPs have returned.  An important strategic aspect of 
UNHCR's role is to advocate strongly for the inclusion of 
reintegration needs in national and area recovery/development 
plans.  Cheng-Hopkins noted that this has now become a 
standard approach in reintegration operations. She explained 
that UNHCR is an active participant in the United Nations 
Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), "One UN" and other 
inter-agency planning processes in all reintegration 
operations.  AcQrding to Cheng-Hopkins, many UNHCR offices 
have also sought proactive partnerships with national and 
development actors to help rehabilitate areas where refugees 
and/or IDPs have returned. 
 
¶3.  (U) Cheng-Hopkins discussed UNHCR's work in Liberia, 
where she maintained that steady progress is being made in 
maximizQ the opportunities for joint programming and 
achieving synergy in the delivery of projects and services. 
UNHCR is now focusing on protection, the rule of law and 
peace education and, in collaboration with other agencies, is 
phasing out of activities in the health and education 
sectors.  She also noted that other humanitarian operations, 
such as in Burundi and Afghanistan, have been placing their 
focus on mainstreaming reintegration needs/activities within 
development priorities.  Outstanding challenges for UNHCR 
reintegration activities include fragile security situations 
that restrict operations and hampers much needed development 
programs in areas of return; housing, land and property 
problems that fall beyond UNHCR,s mandate; and difficulties 
mobilizing resources  from multi-donor trust funds, 
international financial institutions and bilateral 
development agencies.  As part of the 2010-2011 UNHCR 
planning process, a guidance note on planning reintegration 
operations in relation to the new budget structure has been 
drafted, and reintegration indicators for Focus, UNHCR's 
results-based management software, have been reviewed. 
Programming and guidance tools will also be improved and 
mainstreamed into the Focus/Global Needs Assessment training 
program.  Finally, UNHCR will continue to promote new 
approaches in all reintegration operations and to increase 
its engagement with development actors, both on the ground 
and at the global level, with the overall goal of sustainable 
reintegration. 
 
¶4.  (U) Several member states, including the U.S., the 
Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, and Japan noted that UNHCR does 
indeed have a role in reintegration activities but advised 
the organization against going beyond what it is mandated to 
do.  All emphasized the need for a coherent and coordinated 
approach to return/reintegration activities and the need for 
UNHCR to engage with national governments, development actors 
(including the United Nations Development Program, or UNDP), 
and bilateral development organizations much earlier in their 
planning process.  The UK noted that the UN Secretary General 
(UNSYG) will be addressing reintegration of displaced 
populations in May; Cheng-Hopkins noted that UNHCR was fully 
involved in the discussion and development of the paper that 
the UNSG will present at the May meeting.  In response to the 
USG's concerns regarding UNHCR's length of engagement, its 
new budget structure, and the potential for UNHCR to become 
involved in "protracted reintegration" activities, 
Cheng-Hopkins emphasized that Pillar 1 of UNHCR's new budget 
structure (the Refugee Pillar) will be funded from core 
program funds and will cover  support (care, maintenance, 
etc.) for refugees as well as initial/early reintegration 
activities for refugees, while Pillar 3 
(Return/Reintegration) will focus on longer-term projects 
that will not receive funds unless donors pro-actively select 
them.  This division between Pillar 1 and 3 will assist UNHCR 
in obtaining longer-term transition funds and firewall any 
diversion of resources from UNHCR's core refugee mandate. 
 
---------- 
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) 
---------- 
 
¶5.  (U) AHC-O Cheng-Hopkins also presented the update on 
UNHCR's implementation of the global work plan for IDP 
operations and progress on mainstreaming.  Cheng-Hopkins 
stated that the IDP Protection Cluster has been implemented 
in 22 UNHCR field operations to date; UNHCR is leading or 
co-leading the Protection Cluster in 15 of these.  In 
addition to staffing support, technical expertise is provided 
on a standing basis and through support missions to address 
protection-gap areas (e.g., older persons, disabilities or 
protection in natural disaster situations).  She noted that 
over 100 field staff has received protection training and 
protection cluster coordination training and that the IDP 
Protection Handbook is being field-tested and used 
increasingly in the Field to assess, plan and design 
protection responses.  In terms of the Camp Coordination/Camp 
Management (CCCM) Cluster, it was been activated in nine IDP 
operations, in both natural disaster and conflict situations. 
 In 2008, the cluster trained over 200 UNHCR and partner 
staff in CCCM principles, and provided technical support to 
IDP operations in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo 
(DRC), Somalia, Pakistan, South Africa and Uganda. In 
addition, the cluster produced and introduced the use of 
several key programmatic tools including the Camp Management 
Toolkit.  The Emergency Shelter Cluster (ESC), which has been 
rolled out in five operations, organized 10 workshops and one 
real-time training in Somalia, preparing 252 people for 
emergency deployments as coordinators, technical specialists, 
trainers and information managers.  UNHCR also trained 192 of 
its own and NGO partner-agency staff on supply and warehouse 
management, as well as eight regional training sessions for 
participants from 58 countries including Headquarters. 
UNHCR's technical staff has also been playing a significant 
role in the clusters that UNHCR does not lead to ensure that 
assistance to various beneficiary groups is aligned and 
mutually supportive and to help shape the clusters' policies, 
tools and training. 
 
¶6.  (U) Cheng-Hopkins emphasized that UNHCR continues to 
refine its involvement in IDP situations and has made notable 
progress in fully mainstreaming IDP issues within its 
structures, policies and programs.  For instance, the 
planning guidelines sent to UNHCR field offices and 
Headquarters units for the 2010-2011 program contain clear 
instructions from the High Commissioner to outline the needs 
and actions within UNHCR's agreed responsibilities as cluster 
lead, and/or the agreed responsibilities as an operational or 
sector lead agency.  In November 2008, the first Learning 
Program on Internal Displacement for UNHCR senior managers 
was launched.  The four-day intensive curriculum brought 
together 25 UNHCR managers working in major IDP operations; 
this program will ultimately be made mandatory for all UNHCR 
staff.  The goal is to equip UNHCR staff with the tools 
needed to effectively contribute to the inter-agency response 
to internal displacement situations.  In 2009, UNHCR will 
also focus its attention on issues related to the protection 
and assistance of IDPs living in urban areas, notably those 
in protracted situations.  UNHCR's Policy Development and 
Evaluation Service (PDES) is already carrying out a study on 
the subject, the results of which will inform the High 
Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges in 2009 
which will focus on displaced people in urban situations. 
The issue of climate change and its impact on internal 
displacement will also be a topic on which UNHCR will 
continue to look at.  A paper on UNHCR's position with regard 
to natural disaster scenarios, "Climate change, natural 
disasters and human displacement: A UNHCR perspective (23 
October 2008)" is available at: www.unhcr.org/climate. 
 
¶7.  (U) The Ethiopian Delegation, speaking on behalf of the 
Africa Group, noted that although protection of IDPs is a 
UNHCR lead under the Cluster Approach, UNHCR's work should 
not be duplicative of what other organizations are already 
undertaking in this regard, and reminded UNHCR that issues of 
climate change and urban IDPs should be led by someone other 
than UNHCR.  Ethiopia also strongly emphasized that given 
that coordination with national and regional governments is 
key to any successful operation dealing with people who are 
displaced internally.  The UK, Sweden, Canada, and the 
Netherlands welcomed UNHCR's efforts on taking more of a lead 
on IDPs, especially in mainstreaming IDP activities and 
training into its programs.  Japan and the U.S. emphasized 
the need for UNHCR to coordinate closely with the other 
Cluster leads and co-leads, using agencies' comparative 
advantage whenever possible.  Both noted that UNHCR staff and 
resources are already over-stretched in many cases, focusing 
on increasing outflows of refugees and movements of IDPs in 
may areas of the world.  The U.S. questioned whether UNHCR 
should engage in situations of natural disasters.  Arnauld 
Akodjenou, UNHCR's Director of the Division of Operational 
Services, responded that UNHCR would only work in situations 
of natural disaster if:  1) there is a need or request by the 
UN Country Team, and 2) in areas where refugees or returned 
refugees are affected.  (Note:  Given this explanation, 
coupled with UNHCR,s enhanced work with IDPs, UNHCR could 
justify a role in almost any situation of natural disaster; 
the U.S. will need to track this issue closely. 
Interestingly, Switzerland requested that UNHCR include 
discussion of the organization's exit strategy in IDP 
operations.  End Note.) 
 
----------- 
Protracted Refugee Situations 
----------- 
 
¶8.  (U) George Okoth-Obbo, UNHCR's Director of International 
Protection Service, presented UNHCR's update on the High 
Commissioner's 2008 Dialogue on protracted refugee 
situations.  The High Commissioner's Dialogue took place in 
Geneva, December 10-11, 2008 and although it is not a formal 
policy or decision-making body, the High Commissioner 
considers its deliberations important in helping UNHCR shape 
its future policies, strategies and activities for tackling 
the challenges under discussion.  The 2008 Dialogue was 
attended by representatives of 87 States, eight bodies from 
the United Nations system, three intergovernmental 
organizations, 27 NGOs and 10 other organizations, as well as 
academics and experts attending in their personal capacity. 
There are more than 30 protracted refugee situations (PRS) 
worldwide. While UNHCR is making efforts to address all of 
these situations, five in particular ) Afghan refugees in 
the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan, Burundian refugees 
in the United Republic of Tanzania, Eritrean refugees in 
Sudan, Croatian and Bosnian refugees in Serbia, and Rohingya 
in Bangladesh ) had been selected under the High 
Commissioner's Special Initiative on Protracted Refugee 
Situations (PRS) to exemplify the nature and complexity of 
the problem and to energize efforts to drive forward either 
durable solutions or improvements in the life of the refugees 
concerned as they remain in asylum.  Discussion centered on 
finding traditional solutions (voluntary repatriation, local 
integration and resettlement) for refugees in PRS, the role 
of the international community (political/diplomatic 
engagement and financial support), the role and "incumbent 
responsibilities" of the countries of origin, as well as the 
role of refugees themselves. 
 
¶9.  (U) Drawing on the results and momentum generated by the 
Dialogue, UNHCR has accelerated its plans with respect to the 
five protracted situations under the High Commissioner's 
Special Initiative.  Efforts are under way to elaborate 
comprehensive plans, in close coordination with host 
countries, countries of origin, NGOs, international 
organizations and other stakeholders.  UNHCR will work to 
bring the issue of protracted refugee situations onto the 
agenda of inter-agency and other relevant fora, such as the 
UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee, the Peacebuilding 
Commission, Delivering as One, the OECD's Development 
Assistance Committee, international financial institutions 
and the African Union, to enhance collaboration with multiple 
actors in resolving protracted situations. 
 
¶10.  (U) All delegations who spoke noted their appreciation 
for the High Commisioner's initiative on establishing a 
yearly thematic dialogue.  The delegations of Bangladesh, 
Thailand, Iran, and Pakistan emphasized that responses to the 
issue of PRS should focus on voluntary repatriation and 
resettlement, given that in their view, local integration is 
almost impossible to undertake because many refugee-hosting 
countries cannot support additional increases in their 
population.  The U.S. noted that it looked forward to the 
paper on follow-up to the discussion, which should include 
priorities and recommendations on next steps, and highlighted 
the need for greater collaboration among UN agencies to 
address and resolve PRS.  Okoth-Obo stressed the need for a 
holistic approach in dealing with PRS, including using all 
three durable, depending on the situation of a population. 
He also agreed that coordination is key and said that UNHCR 
is currently working with development partners in several PRS 
(the ILO in Bangladesh, UNDP in Sudan, JICA in Dadaab). 
UNHCR plans to put together a strategy on how to work with 
other partners in PRS.  The next dialogue will focus on urban 
populations. 
 
 
STORELLA