From 16-18 December 2019, UNHCR together with Switzerland hosted the first -ever Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. ICMPD’s Director Michael Spindelegger met with a number of ICMPD’s partners and high-level officials during the event.
The aim of the Forum is to generate new approaches and long-term commitments from a variety of actors to help refugees and the communities in which they live. Worldwide, over 70 million people are displaced by war, conflict, and persecution. More than 25 million of them are refugees, having fled across international borders and unable to return to their homes.
In his remarks to the plenary, Michael Spindelegger said:
"Currently, only three percent of the global refugee population have access to the so called durable solutions of repatriation, resettlement and local integration. This basic fact should be the frame for all our action."
The contributions made at the Forum are expected to include financial, technical, and material assistance; legal and policy changes to enable greater inclusion of refugees in society; resettlement places, and the safe return for refugees as part of solutions.