Civilians in Gaza in extreme peril while the world watches on: Ten requirements to avoid an even worse catastrophe
Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee NEW YORK/GENEVA/ROME – In the less than five months that followed the brutal 7 October attacks and the ensuing escalation, tens of thousands of Palestinians – mostly women and children – have been killed...Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee: We cannot abandon the people of Gaza
New York/Geneva/Rome– The allegations of involvement of several UNRWA staff in the heinous attacks on Israel on 7 October are horrifying. As the Secretary-General has said, any UN employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable. However, we must not...Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, One in five people in the Central Sahel needs humanitarian aid: Now is the time to turn words into action
NEW YORK/GENEVA/ROME – The crises gripping the Central Sahel are exacerbating humanitarian and protection needs and threatening to reverse development gains. In 2024, some 17 million people in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger need humanitarian assistance and protection –...
Global Refugee Forum 2023 Closing Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi
Friends, My thanks to you all for participating in this Global Refugee Forum. I have been extremely pleased – proud, if I may say – to have been part of the rich discussions here over these past three days; to have been infected by the energy that you have...
Global Refugee Forum Opening remarks of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi
Your Majesty, Distinguished participants in the Global Refugee Forum, Figures do not tell real stories. But there is one figure — 114 million — which is important to begin our reflection: 114 million represents the number of refugees and displaced people whom...
Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, Humanitarian chiefs will not take part in unilateral proposals to create “safe zones” in Gaza
NEW YORK/GENEVA/ROME – As humanitarian leaders, our position is clear: We will not participate in the establishment of any ”safe zone” in Gaza that is set up without the agreement of all the parties, and unless fundamental conditions are in place to ensure safety and...
Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, on the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, “We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”
NEW YORK/GENEVA/ROME, 5 November 2023 – For almost a month, the world has been watching the unfolding situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory in shock and horror at the spiralling numbers of lives lost and torn apart. In Israel, some 1,400 people...
High Commissioner’s 2023 Kofi Annan Geneva peace address
There was a time, in the lives of many of us, in which we thought that we had entered an era of peace — not perfect peace, not global peace, but peace that could progressively extend to further parts of the world. A time, after the Berlin Wall was finally reduced to...