A/RES/73/151 GA

United Nations A/RES/73/151 General Assembly Distr.: General 10 January 2019 18-22205 (E) 140119 *1822205* Seventy-third session Agenda item 65 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 2018 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/73/583)] 73/151. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The General Assembly, Having considered the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the activities of his Office1 and the report of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the work of its sixty-ninth session2 and the decisions contained therein, Recalling its previous annual resolutions on the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees since its establishment by the General Assembly, Expressing deep concern that the number of people who are forcibly displaced owing to, inter alia, conflict, persecution and violence, including terrorism, has reached the highest level since the Second World War, Noting with grave concern that, despite the tremendous generosity of host countries and donors, including unprecedented levels of humanitarian funding, the gap between needs and humanitarian funding continues to grow, Recognizing that forced displacement has, inter alia, humanitarian and development implications, Expressing its appreciation for the leadership shown by the High Commissioner, and commending the staff of his Office and its partners for the competent, courageous and dedicated manner in which they discharge their responsibilities, Underlining its strong condemnation of all forms of violence to which humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel are increasingly exposed, __________________ 1 Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-third Session, Supplement No. 12 (A/73/12 (Part I) and A/73/12 (Part II)). 2 Ibid., Supplement No. 12A (A/73/12/Add.1). A/RES/73/151 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 18-22205 2/10 Reaffirming the need for consistency with international law, including international refugee law, and relevant General Assembly resolutions that may concern the work of the Office of the High Commissioner, and taking into account national policies, priorities and realities, Recalling its resolution 46/182 of 19 December 1991 on the strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations and all subsequent General Assembly resolutions on the subject, including resolution 72/133 of 11 December 2017, 1. Welcomes the important work undertaken by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and its Executive Committee in the course of the year, which is aimed at strengthening the international protection regime and at assisting Governments in meeting their protection responsibilities, and underlines the significance of durable solutions, the securing of which is one of the principal goals of international protection; 2. Endorses the report of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the work of its sixty-ninth session;2 3. Recognizes the relevance of the Executive Committee’s practice of adopting conclusions, and encourages the Executive Committee to continue this process; 4. Recalls the adoption of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants 3 and the two annexes thereto at the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants, on 19 September 2016, and encourages States to implement their commitments made therein; 5. Notes the significant global and regional initiatives, conferences and summits undertaken in 2018 to strengthen international solidarity with and cooperation for refugees and other persons of concern, and encourages those who participated to implement their commitments made therein; 6. Reaffirms the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees4 and the 1967 Protocol thereto 5 as the foundation of the international refugee protection regime, recognizes the importance of their full and effective application by States parties and the values they embody, notes with satisfaction that 149 States are now parties to one or both instruments, encourages States not parties to consider acceding to those instruments and States parties with reservations to give consideration to withdrawing them, underlines, in particular, the importance of full respect for the principle of non-refoulement, and recognizes that a number of States not parties to the international refugee instruments have shown a generous approach to hosting refugees; 7. Urges States that are parties to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol thereto to respect their obligations in letter and spirit; 8. Re-emphasizes that the protection of refugees is primarily the responsibility of States, whose full and effective cooperation, action and political resolve are required to enable the Office of the High Commissioner to fulfil its __________________ 3 Resolution 71/1. 4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 189, No. 2545. 5 Ibid., vol. 606, No. 8791. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees A/RES/73/151 3/10 18-22205 mandated functions, and strongly emphasizes the importance of active international solidarity and burden- and responsibility-sharing; 9. Welcomes recent accessions to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons6 and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 7 notes that 91 States are now parties to the 1954 Convention and 73 States are parties to the 1961 Convention, encourages States that have not done so to give consideration to acceding to those instruments, notes the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees with regard to identifying stateless persons, preventing and reducing statelessness and protecting stateless persons, and urges the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to work in this area in accordance with relevant General Assembly resolutions and Executive Committee conclusions; 10. Re-emphasizes that prevention and reduction of statelessness are primarily the responsibility of States, in appropriate cooperation with the international community, in this regard welcomes the global campaign to end statelessness within a decade, including its high-level meeting on statelessness to take place in 2019, and encourages all States to consider actions they may take to further the prevention and reduction of statelessness, and welcomes efforts that have been made by States in this regard; 11. Also re-emphasizes that protection of and assistance to internally displaced persons are primarily the responsibility of States, in appropriate cooperation with the international community, aimed at, inter alia, facilitating voluntary, safe and dignified return, integration or relocation in their own country; 12. Notes the current activities of the Office of the High Commissioner related to protection of and assistance to internally displaced persons, including in the context of inter-agency arrangements in this field, emphasizes that such activities should be carried out with the full consent of the affected States, consistent with relevant General Assembly resolutions, and should not undermine the refugee mandate of the Office and the institution of asylum, and encourages the High Commissioner to continue his dialogue with States on the role of his Office in this regard; 13. Encourages the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to respond adequately to emergencies, in accordance with its mandate and in cooperation with States, notes the measures taken by the Office to strengthen its capacity to respond to emergencies, and encourages the Office to pursue its efforts to further strengthen its emergency capacity and thereby ensure a more predictable, effective and timely response; 14. Also encourages the Office of the High Commissioner to work in partnership and in full cooperation with relevant national authorities, United Nations offices and agencies, international and intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations to contribute to the continued development of humanitarian response capacities at all levels, and recalls the role of the Office as the leading entity of the clusters for protection, camp coordination and management and emergency shelter in complex emergencies; 15. Further encourages the Office of the High Commissioner, among other relevant United Nations and other relevant intergovernmental organizations and humanitarian and development actors, to continue to work with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat to enhance the coordination, effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian response and to contribute, in consultation with States, as appropriate, to making further progress towards common __________________ 6 Ibid., vol. 360, No. 5158. 7 Ibid., vol. 989, No. 14458. A/RES/73/151 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 18-22205 4/10 humanitarian needs assessments, as stated, among other important issues, in General Assembly resolution 72/133 on the strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations; 16. Welcomes the recent efforts by the Office of the High Commissioner to ensure a more inclusive, transparent, predictable and well-coordinated response to refugees as well as internally displaced persons and other persons of concern, consistent with its mandate, and in this regard takes note of the implementation of the refugee coordination model; 17. Underlines the centrality of international cooperation to the refugee protection regime, recognizes the burden that large movements of refugees place on major and long-standing refugee-hosting countries and their host communities, as well as their national resources, especially in the case of developing countries, and calls for a more equitable sharing of the burden and responsibility for hosting and supporting the world’s refugees, addressing the needs of refugees and hosting States, while taking account of existing contributions and the differing capacities and resources among States, and in the context of the global compact on refugees, emphasizes the need for robust, well-functioning, concrete arrangements and potential, complementary mechanisms for ensuring predictable, equitable, efficient and effective burden- and responsibility-sharing; 18. Takes note with appreciation of the elements set out in the comprehensive refugee response framework contained in annex I to the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, and recalls the request to the Office of the High Commissioner to develop and initiate a comprehensive refugee response based on the principles of international cooperation and on burden- and responsibility-sharing, in close coordination with relevant States, including host countries, and involving other relevant United Nations entities as laid out in annex I to the New York Declaration; 19. Notes with appreciation the efforts made by the increased number of countries applying the comprehensive refugee response framework, including through regional approaches, where applicable, such as the comprehensive regional protection and solutions framework (MIRPS) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development regional approach, which contributed to the development of the global compact on refugees; 20. While recognizing contributions already made, renews its call upon all States and other relevant stakeholders to provide the necessary support for the application of the comprehensive refugee response framework with a view to sharing the burden and responsibilities for hosting and supporting refugees, and underscores the critical importance of additional development support over and above regular development assistance for host countries and countries of origin; 21. Invites the High Commissioner to continue coordinating the effort to measure the impact arising from hosting, protecting and assisting refugees, with a view to assessing gaps in international cooperation and promoting burden- and responsibility-sharing that is more equitable, predictable and sustainable, and to report on the results to Member States in 2019; 22. Commends the Office of the High Commissioner for the comprehensive and transparent process of engagement and consultation undertaken to develop the global compact on refugees, involving all States Members of the United Nations and other relevant stakeholders, as requested of the High Commissioner by the General Assembly; 23. Affirms the global compact on refugees, as presented by the High Commissioner for Refugees in part II of the annual report on the activities of his Office submitted to the seventy-third session of the General Assembly,1 and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees A/RES/73/151 5/10 18-22205 underscores its importance as a representation of political will and ambition of the international community to operationalize the principle of burden- and responsibility- sharing, to mobilize the international community as a whole, and galvanize action for an improved response to refugee situations; 24. In view of the need to urgently achieve strengthened burden- and responsibility-sharing, and reiterating its commitment to reach this end, calls upon the international community as a whole, including States and other relevant stakeholders, to implement the global compact on refugees, in order to achieve its four objectives on an equal footing, in accordance with the guiding principles and paragraph 4 of the global compact on refugees, through concrete actions, pledges and contributions, including at the first Global Refugee Forum, underlining the centrality of international cooperation to the refugee protection regime, and requests the High Commissioner to report regularly on the progress being made; 25. Calls upon States and other stakeholders that have not yet contributed to burden- and responsibility-sharing to do so, with a view to broadening the support base, in a spirit of international solidarity and cooperation; 26. Encourages the Office of the High Commissioner to engage in and implement in full the objectives of the “Delivering as one” initiative; 27. Notes with appreciation the measures taken and efficiencies gained in the process of structural and management change to reinforce the capacity of the Office of the High Commissioner, and encourages the Office to focus on continuous improvement, consistent with recent relevant initiatives and the change management process of the Office, in order to enable a more efficient response to the needs of persons of concern, including identifying unmet needs, and to ensure the effective and transparent use of its resources; 28. Welcomes the commitment and efforts of the Office of the High Commissioner to prevent, mitigate and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, fraud, corruption and other forms of misconduct, and encourages the Office to sustain action with a view to strengthening and enforcing the zero- tolerance approach within the Office; 29. Expresses deep concern about the increasing threats to the safety and security of humanitarian aid workers and convoys and, in particular, the loss of life of humanitarian personnel working in the most difficult and challenging conditions in order to assist those in need; 30. Emphasizes the need for States to ensure that perpetrators of attacks committed on their territory against humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel do not operate with impunity and that the perpetrators of such acts are promptly brought to justice as provided for by national laws and obligations under international law; 31. Strongly condemns attacks on refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons and internally displaced persons and acts that pose a threat to their personal security and well-being, calls upon all States concerned and, where applicable, parties involved in an armed conflict to take all measures necessary to respect and ensure respect for human rights and international humanitarian law, and urges all States to fight racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, related intolerance and hate speech; 32. Deplores the refoulement and unlawful expulsion of refugees and asylum seekers, and calls upon all States concerned to respect the relevant principles of refugee protection and human rights; 33. Urges States to uphold the civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps and settlements, inter alia, through effective measures to prevent the A/RES/73/151 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 18-22205 6/10 infiltration of armed elements, to identify and separate any such armed elements from refugee populations, to settle refugees in secure locations and to afford to the Office of the High Commissioner and, where appropriate, other humanitarian organizations prompt, unhindered and safe access to asylum seekers, refugees and other persons of concern; 34. Notes with increasing concern that asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons are subject to arbitrary detention in numerous situations and encourages working towards the ending of this practice, welcomes the increasing use of alternatives to detention, especially in the case of children, and emphasizes the need for States to limit detention of asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons to that which is necessary, giving full consideration to possible alternatives; 35. Notes with grave concern the significant risks to which many refugees and asylum seekers are exposed as they attempt to reach safety, and encourages international cooperation to ensure adequate response mechanisms, including life- saving measures, reception, registration and assistance, as well as to ensure that safe and regular access to asylum for persons in need of international protection remains open and accessible; 36. Expresses grave concern at the large number of asylum seekers who have lost their lives at sea trying to reach safety, encourages international cooperation to further strengthen search and rescue mechanisms in accordance with international law, and commends the great life-saving efforts and actions taken by a number of States in this regard; 37. Emphasizes that the international protection of refugees is a dynamic and action-oriented function that is at the core of the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner and that it includes, in cooperation with States and other partners, the promotion and facilitation of the admission, reception and treatment of refugees in accordance with internationally agreed standards and the ensuring of durable, protection-oriented solutions, bearing in mind the particular needs of vulnerable groups and paying special attention to those with specific needs, and notes in this context that the delivery of international protection is a staff-intensive service that requires adequate staff with the appropriate expertise, especially at the field level; 38. Expresses grave concern about the long-term impact of continued cuts in food rations on the health and well-being of refugees globally, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, and especially its impact on children, owing to insufficient funding and increased costs, and in this regard calls upon States to ensure sustained support for the Office of the High Commissioner and the World Food Programme, while looking to provide refugees with alternatives to food assistance, pending a durable solution; 39. Welcomes the positive steps taken by individual States to open their labour markets to refugees; 40. Affirms the importance of age, gender and diversity mainstreaming in analysing protection needs and ensuring the participation of refugees and other persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner, as appropriate, in the planning and implementation of programmes of the Office and of State policies, also affirms the importance of according priority to addressing discrimination, gender inequality and the problem of sexual and gender-based violence, recognizing the importance of addressing the protection needs of women, children and persons with disabilities in particular, and underlines the importance of continuing to work on those issues; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees A/RES/73/151 7/10 18-22205 41. Encourages States to put in place, if they have not yet done so, appropriate systems and procedures to ensure that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration with regard to all actions concerning refugee children; 42. Notes with concern that a large proportion of the world’s out-of-school population lives in conflict-affected areas, and calls upon States to meet their commitments in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, to lend support to host countries in providing quality primary and secondary education in safe learning environments for all refugee children, and to do so within a few months of the initial displacement, as well as the commitments in the Incheon Declaration: Education 2030: Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all to develop more inclusive, responsive and resilient education systems to meet the needs of children, youth and adults in these contexts, including internally displaced persons and refugees; 43. Notes the efforts by the Office of the High Commissioner to improve its humanitarian assistance response, and stresses the importance of tailored, innovative approaches, including cash-based interventions; 44. Also notes that the lack of civil registration and related documentation makes persons vulnerable to statelessness and associated protection risks, recognizes that birth registration provides an official record of a child’s legal identity and is crucial to preventing and reducing statelessness, and welcomes efforts by States to ensure the birth registration of children; 45. Strongly reaffirms the fundamental importance and the purely humanitarian and non-political character of the function of the Office of the High Commissioner of providing international protection to refugees and seeking durable solutions to refugee situations, and recalls that those solutions include voluntary repatriation and, where appropriate and feasible, local integration and resettlement in a third country, while reaffirming that voluntary repatriation, supported, as necessary, by rehabilitation and development assistance to facilitate sustainable reintegration, remains the preferred solution; 46. Expresses concern about the particular difficulties faced by the millions of refugees in protracted situations, recognizes with deep concern that the average length of stay has continued to grow, and emphasizes the need to redouble international efforts and cooperation to find practical and comprehensive approaches to resolving their plight and to realize durable solutions for them, consistent with international law and relevant General Assembly resolutions; 47. Recognizes the importance of achieving durable solutions to refugee situations and, in particular, the need to address in this process the root causes of refugee movements; 48. Encourages further efforts by the Office of the High Commissioner, in cooperation with countries hosting refugees and countries of origin, including their respective local communities, relevant United Nations agencies, international and intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations, as appropriate, non-governmental organizations and development actors, to actively promote durable solutions, particularly in protracted refugee situations, with a focus on sustainable, timely, voluntary, safe and dignified return, which encompasses repatriation, reintegration, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities, and encourages States and other relevant actors to continue to support these efforts through, inter alia, the allocation of funds; 49. Recalls the purely humanitarian and non-political character of the Office of the High Commissioner, calls upon the international community and the Office to exert further efforts to promote and facilitate whenever the prevailing circumstances A/RES/73/151 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 18-22205 8/10 are deemed appropriate, the safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation of refugees, through their free and informed choice, in a sustainable manner, to their countries of origin, and encourages the Office and where appropriate, other United Nations agencies, to mobilize further resources in this regard; 50. Expresses concern about the current low level of voluntary repatriation, encourages the solution-oriented approach pursued by the Office of the High Commissioner to support the sustainability of voluntary repatriation and reintegration, including from the onset of displacement, and in this regard urges the Office to further strengthen partnerships with national Governments and development actors, as well as international financial institutions; 51. Recognizes, in the context of voluntary repatriation, the importance of resolute efforts in the country of origin, including rehabilitation and development assistance, to foster the voluntary, safe and dignified return and sustainable reintegration of refugees and to ensure the restoration of national protection; 52. Acknowledges with appreciation voluntary action taken by several host countries to enable permanent residence and naturalization for refugees and former refugees; 53. Calls upon States to create opportunities for resettlement as a durable solution and as an indispensable tool for burden- and responsibility-sharing, acknowledges with appreciation the many countries that continue to offer enhanced resettlement opportunities and recognizes the need to further increase the number of resettlement places and the number of countries with regular resettlement programmes and to improve the integration of resettled refugees, calls upon States to ensure inclusive and non-discriminatory policies in their resettlement programmes, and notes that resettlement is a strategic protection tool and solution for refugees, recalling in this regard the annual resettlement needs identified by the Office of the High Commissioner; 54. Also calls upon States to consider creating, expanding or facilitating access to complementary and sustainable pathways to protection and solutions for refugees, in cooperation with relevant partners, including the private sector, where appropriate, including through humanitarian admission or transfer, family reunification, skilled migration, labour mobility schemes, scholarships and education mobility schemes; 55. Notes with appreciation the activities undertaken by States to strengthen the regional initiatives that facilitate cooperative policies and approaches on refugees, and encourages States to continue their efforts to address, in a comprehensive manner, the needs of the people who require international protection in their respective regions, including the support provided for host communities that receive large numbers of persons who require international protection; 56. Notes the importance of States and the Office of the High Commissioner discussing and clarifying the role of the Office in mixed migratory flows in order to better address protection needs in the context of mixed migratory flows, bearing in mind the particular needs of vulnerable groups, especially women, children and persons with disabilities, including by safeguarding access to asylum for those in need of international protection, and also notes the readiness of the High Commissioner, consistent with his mandate, to assist States in fulfilling their protection responsibilities in this regard; 57. Emphasizes the obligation of all States to accept the return of their nationals, calls upon States to facilitate the return of their nationals who have been determined not to be in need of international protection, and affirms the need for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees A/RES/73/151 9/10 18-22205 return of persons to be undertaken in a safe and humane manner and with full respect for their human rights and dignity, irrespective of the status of the persons concerned; 58. Calls upon States to process asylum applications by duly identifying those in need of international protection, in accordance with their applicable international and regional obligations, so as to strengthen the refugee protection regime; 59. Expresses concern about the challenges associated with climate change and environmental degradation to the operations of the Office of the High Commissioner and the assistance it provides to vulnerable populations of concern across the globe, particularly in the least developed countries, and urges the Office to continue to address such challenges in its work, within its mandate, and in consultation with national authorities and in cooperation with competent agencies in its operations; 60. Urges all States and relevant non-governmental and other organizations, in conjunction with the Office of the High Commissioner, in a spirit of international solidarity and burden- and responsibility-sharing, to cooperate and to mobilize resources, including through financial and in-kind assistance, as well as direct aid to host countries, refugee populations and the communities hosting them, with a view to enhancing the capacity of and reducing the heavy burden borne by countries and communities hosting refugees, in particular those that have received large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers, and whose generosity is appreciated; 61. Calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to play its catalytic role in mobilizing assistance from the international community to address the root causes as well as the economic, environmental, development, security and social impact of large-scale refugee populations in developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, and countries with economies in transition, and notes with appreciation those host countries, donor States, organizations and individuals that contribute to improving the condition of refugees through building the resilience of refugees and their host communities, while working towards a durable solution; 62. Acknowledges with appreciation the cooperation of the Office of the High Commissioner with development partners, noting the advantages of complementarity of funding sources to support refugees and host communities as requested by host Governments, and the importance of doing so in a manner that does not negatively impact or reduce support for broader development objectives in host countries and, where appropriate, countries of origin; 63. Expresses concern that the needs required to protect and assist persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner continue to increase and that the gap between global needs and available resources continues to grow, appreciates the continued and increasing hospitality of host countries and generosity of donors, and therefore calls upon the Office to continue and enhance efforts to broaden its donor base so as to achieve greater burden- and responsibility-sharing by reinforcing cooperation with governmental donors, non-governmental donors and the private sector; 64. Recognizes that adequate and timely resources are essential for the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to fulfil the mandate conferred upon it through its statute8 and by subsequent General Assembly resolutions on refugees and other persons of concern, recalls its resolution 58/153 of 22 December 2003 and subsequent resolutions on the Office of the High Commissioner concerning, inter alia, the implementation of paragraph 20 of the statute of the Office, and urges Governments __________________ 8 Resolution 428 (V), annex. A/RES/73/151 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 18-22205 10/10 and other donors to respond promptly to annual and supplementary appeals issued by the Office for requirements under its programmes; 65. Requests the High Commissioner to report on his annual activities to the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session. 55th plenary meeting 17 December 2018

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