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RESOURCES

Reports on key UNHCR meetings

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.

2009 meetings l 2008 meetings l 2007 meetings l 2006 meetings l Meetings held 2000 to 2005

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. Traditionally held the week before the ExCom meeting (hence the name "Pre ExCom"), the NGO Consultations in 2008 and 2009 were held just after the June Standing Committee meeting.
The Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR) are held each June 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.

In each case, RCOA works closely with its member organisations in planning its involvement in the meetings. For the annual NGO Consultations, RCOA participates in the Australian Refugee Rights Alliance, a working group of Australian NGOs which jointly plan advocacy through UNHCR forums.

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 include Dr Kamal Hussein of the Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia (who 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 through a working group known as the Australian Refugee Rights Alliance (ARRA).
In coming weeks, reports from these meetings will be posted on this page. Below are the reports completed to date.

Documents from the 2009 meetings

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd: Address to the 60th Session of the UNHCR Executive Committee

UNHCR's official report of its 2009 NGO Consultations - (Includes Rapporteur's Report by Elizabeth Campbell, on behalf of NGOs)

Background papers produced by the Australian Refugee Rights Alliance

NGOs and Resettlement Advocacy - Graham Thom and Alexandra Pagliaro (Amnesty International Australia)

Sri Lankan IDPs and Asylum Seekers: Protection Concerns and Challenges - Anna Samson

No Place to Go: Rohingya on the High Seas - Background paper produced by the Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia (with assistance from RCOA and ARRA)

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:
• Efforts to accommodate and manage the deteriorating refugee crisis caused by the ongoing war in Iraq, including pursuing effective resettlement options;
• The development of a UNHCR policy and implementation guidelines regarding urban refugee populations;
• Sharing expertise in the successful use of alternative human rights mechanisms to obtain protection for persons of concern;
• The expansion of protection mechanisms for internally displaced people, including resettlement options for women at risk and other highly vulnerable groups;
• Promotion of the Heightened Risk Assessment Tool as developed and road-tested by University of NSW’s Centre for Refugee Research, Amnesty International Australia and the Federation of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (FASSTT);
• Statelessness;
• Detention of undocumented migrants;
• The challenges of creating protection space in states with large refugee populations that are not parties to the Refugee Convention, many of which are located within Asia and the Pacific;
• Protection for unaccompanied and separated children;
• Budget priorities for UNHCR; and
• The development of an Asia-Pacific network of NGOs to provide support and work on regional refugee campaigns.

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.