Advocacy with UNHCR

Each year a representative from the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) attends the annual United Nations Commissioner for Refugees Executive Committee (ExCom) meetings as well as UNHCR's annual NGO Consultations (sometimes referred to as Pre ExCom) and Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR) in Geneva. These meetings are an opportunity for the community sector to put forward issues of concern to the peak international agency mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide.

The role of the meetings in UNHCR's work

The UNHCR Executive Committee (ExCom) is the annual meeting of the member states which govern UNHCR, held usually in early October to decide on UNHCR's program for the following year. Non-government organisations are able to attend the meeting as observers and can make combined interventions, which are coordinated by the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA). UNHCR's ExCom has a subsidiary body, Standing Committee, which meets three times a year (March, June and September) to advance ExCom's agenda. The Standing Committee also holds a planning meeting in December.

UNHCR's annual NGO Consultations are coordinated by UNHCR's Inter Agency Unit and ICVA and bring together NGOs from around the world. Since 2008, the NGO Consultations have been held just after the June Standing Committee meeting.

The Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR) are held each June or July in Geneva, bringing together UNHCR representatives with government and NGO representatives from the countries involved in refugee resettlement. As Australia's main support of refugees is through resettlement, this is a critical meeting for RCOA and its members.

The Australian Refugee Rights Alliance

The Australian Refugee Rights Alliance (ARRA) is a coalition of Australian NGOs, refugee advocates and academics who engage in advocacy at an international level with and on behalf of refugees in Australia and the region.

In December 2001, the University of New South Wales' Centre for Refugee Research convened an international conference entitled Where to from Here? to mark the 50th anniversary of the UN Refugee Convention. Over the course of four days, more than 500 academics, refugees, lawyers, students, interested public and community workers came together in Sydney and discussed current refugee law, policy and practice. Following the conference, a group of refugee advocates came together following to form ARRA.

For more information about ARRA, visit www.arra.org.au

2011 meetings

2011 UNHCR ExCom

The annual meeting of UNHCR’s Executive Committee took place from 3-7 October 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland. Key topics of discussion included: responses to major international emergencies, including those in Côte d’Ivoire, Libya and Somalia; resolving protracted refugee situations and enhancing durable solutions to refugees; the need to improve cooperation and  sharing of responsibility for refugee protection, such as through collaborative regional arrangements; the need for more constructive approaches to asylum seeker management which balance national interests with international responsibilities, and avoid practices which cause serious harm to persons seeking protection; and the protection needs of refugee women and girls.

The UNHCR reports and presentations to the ExCom meeting, as well as brief reports on the proceedings and selected video clips, are at http://www.unhcr.org/pages/4e2693656.html

Download RCOA's compilation of key statements made during the 2011 ExCom meeting

Past UNHCR meetings

2010 | 2009 | 2008

2010 meetings

2010 UNHCR NGO Consultations & Standing Committee meeting

The 2010 UNHCR NGO Consultations in Geneva (June 29 to July 1) brought together 370 delegates from 83 countries. Of these, 24 were from Australia, including RCOA, Centre for Refugee Research (University of NSW), Amnesty International, National Council of Churches, Settlement Council of Australia, AMES, Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre and Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office. The consultations provided much useful discussion on urban refugees, internally displaced persons, statelessness, issues of xenophobia and alternatives to immigration detention. The discussion of refugee issues by region was, as always, very useful. Highlights of the gathering included a side on the rights of refugee women presented by CRR and Australia’s refugee community delegates and the discussion of issues of xenophobia.

A week earlier, 16 Australian NGO representatives were observers at UNHCR’s June Standing Committee, contributing to and helping to deliver the international NGO statement on refugee protection issues. From July 6 to 8, four Australian NGO representatives participated in the 2010 Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement.

To download reports, background information, briefing papers and other key documents from the 2010 meetings, visit the ARRA website.

Involvement of refugee community representatives

RCOA worked with the Centre for Refugee Research to support the involvement of four refugee community reps in UNHCR’s Standing Committee meeting and its NGO Consultations. With funds raised from Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre, Oxfam Australia, Caritas Australia, Amnesty International and Australian Council for International Development and after an expression of interest process, Parsuram Sharma-Luital (Bhutanese community, Melbourne), Endalketchew Gage (Ethiopian community, Melbourne) and Deena Yako (Iraqi community, Sydney) were chosen to represent concerns to UNHCR’s Asia, Africa and Middle East bureaux.  AMES paid for the involvement of one of its senior staff, Dr Melika Sheikh-Eldin, a former refugee from Eritrea and RCOA board member.  RCOA invited submissions from refugee community organisations in Australia regarding issues to be raised in the Geneva meetings.

The three selected delegates and Dr Sheikh-Eldin were a highly effective team of advocates in Geneva. The concerns they raised included the impact of protracted displacement in camps in Africa and Asia, gender-based violence and exploitation, family reunion concerns, detention and international access to refugee status determination, engaging in dialogue with UNHCR about the needs of particular groups of neglected refugees and asylum seekers.

The deputy director of UNHCR’s Asia bureau, Pascale Moreau, told the Australian delegation: “What you bring to the table is very important because you are bringing information from the refugee communities. It is rare for us to hear the voices of refugee leaders in Geneva.”
The refugee community representatives co-presented at a side meeting of the International Working Group to monitor the implementation of the UNHCR Executive Committee Conclusion on Women and Girls at Risk.

2010 UNHCR ExCom

The 61st session of UNHCR’s Executive Committee (ExCom) took place in Geneva from 4-8 October. RCOA’s President John Gibson attended the meeting as an NGO representative on the Australian Government delegation, along with James Thomson, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Act for Peace, and Carmel Guerra, CEO of the Centre for Multicultural Youth. RCOA's Information and Policy Officer, Lucy Morgan, and Dr Linda Bartolomei from the Centre for Refugee Research at UNSW were also in attendance as NGO observers. Key issues discussed at ExCom included:

• the need to secure durable solutions for refugees in protracted situations;
• the challenges presented by mixed migration flows;
• the increasingly dangerous operating environments faced by humanitarian workers and the shrinking of humanitarian space in many regions throughout the world;
• the need for international solidarity and cooperation to support countries of first asylum in providing effective protection for refugees and asylum seekers; and
• the importance of coordination and effective partnerships between agencies working in the area of refugee protection.

The 2010 ExCom Conclusion focused on refugees and other persons of concern with disabilities. It called on states to provide appropriate support and protection to refugees with disabilities, implement accessibility standards and foster respect for the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.

During the meeting, the Australian Government announced its intention to increase its core contribution to UNHCR next year. In responding to Australia’s statement, High Commissioner Antonio Guterres thanked Australia for its support of UNHCR and expressed his "appreciation for the role that civil society plays in Australia, both in protection and in support of the reintegration programs for resettled refugees, with some remarkable success."

Download RCOA's report on the 2010 UNHCR ExCom meeting

2009 meetings

In June and July 2009, 24 representatives of Australian NGOs travelled to Geneva, Switzerland to participate in a series of meetings held by UNHCR - the 2009 UNHCR NGO Consultations (June 29 to July 1), the 2009 Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (June 30 to July 2) and the UNHCR Standing Committee (June 23 to 25). RCOA representatives were president John Gibson, CEO Paul Power and RCOA board members Dr Melika Sheikh-Eldin (AMES Victoria) and Paris Aristotle (Foundation House).

The refugee community representatives present included Dr Kamal Hussein of the Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia (whose visit was arranged by RCOA with the financial support of Caritas Australia) and Liliane Lukoki and Fatima Elzibar of the African Women's Advocacy Unit. Other NGOs represented included the University of NSW's Centre for Refugee Research, Settlement Council of Australia, Amnesty International Australia, ActionAid Australia, ACCES Services Inc, Foundation House and National Council of Churches. The Centre for Refugee Research's team included nine interns who supported the Australian NGO team by documenting all aspects of the UNHCR Standing Committee meeting and NGO Consultations. The Australian NGO representatives worked together as the Australian Refugee Rights Alliance (ARRA).

To download reports, background information, briefing papers and other key documents from the 2009 meetings, visit the ARRA website.

2008 meetings

In June and July 2008, UNHCR held its Annual Consultations with NGOs, June Standing Committee meeting and Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR). RCOA Board Members Paris Aristotle (Director, Foundation House), Jenny Semple (Secretary, National Council of Migrant Resource and Settlement Agencies) and Melika Sheikh-Eldin (Manager, AMES Victoria), together with RCOA’s National Policy Director, Anna Samson, represented the Council at these meetings convened in Geneva, Switzerland.

RCOA’s participation in the meetings was undertaken in coalition with the Australian Refugee Rights Alliance (ARRA), an umbrella group of Australian NGOs who engage in advocacy at an international level with and on behalf of refugees in Australia and the region. The forums are viewed as important opportunities for improving partnerships between NGOs, UNHCR and states and influencing the tenor and direction of international responses to refugee crises.

More than 100 NGOs from around the world attended the NGO Consultations that focused on the intersection between the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the spirit of the Refugee Convention, both of which emphasise the right of every person to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. The Refugee Council’s representatives and other ARRA members contributed most markedly to discussions regarding:

The ATCR provided an opportunity to not only share the expertise and experience of Australia as a relatively major player among resettlement states, but for the Refugee Council to promote innovative solutions and approaches for creating sound settlement outcomes. Paris Aristotle co-chaired a workshop on resettlement of refugees with medical needs, highlighting the benefits of focusing on establishing effective settlement strategies to accommodate mental health needs rather than attempting to structure referral procedures that pre-emptively assess integration potential for individuals who have experienced trauma.

Melika Sheikh-Eldin and Anna Samson co-facilitated a workshop on strategies for sustainable employment outcomes for refugees. Melika’s presentation of the programs she has developed and implemented with refugees across a range of different skill levels piqued the interest of UNHCR High Commissioner, Antonio Guterres, who commented positively on the initiatives. The Director of UNHCR’s Resettlement Service, Vincent Cochetel, has subsequently invited Melika to assist UNHCR in the further implementation of the Heightened Risk Assessment Tool among Eritrean refugees in Sudan. Other areas of interest included the strategic use of resettlement, implementation of sensitive family reunion policies, development of a toolkit and twinning arrangements to assist new resettlement countries, operationalising the Conclusions on women and girls at risk and children at risk, and resettlement in the Iraqi context.

The Refugee Council also participated in the drafting of the NGO Statements presented at the UNHCR Standing Committee meeting, with the Council’s National Policy Director having the opportunity to read the NGO Statement on Resettlement.

To download reports, background information, briefing papers and other key documents from the 2008 meetings, visit the ARRA website.