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EU statement - UNHCR 93rd Standing Committee - Agenda Item 5 b): Global Report 2024

17.06.2025
Geneva
Press and information team of the Delegation to the UN in Geneva

UNHCR 93rd Standing Committee 

17-19 June 2025

 

Agenda Item 5 b): Global Report 2024

Statement by the European Union and its Member States 

 

Thank you, Chair. 

 

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. 

 

  1. The EU and its Member States welcome the “Global Report 2024”, which regrettably confirms a continued negative trend, with nearly a decade of annual increases resulting in 122.1 million forcibly displaced by April 2025. Unprecedented budget cuts have severely affected the UN system, including UNHCR and humanitarian partners, resulting in profound systemic transformations, and being forced to do “less with less”. It is a difficult situation for the whole multilateral system, requiring painful decisions with operational consequences tragically forcibly displaced persons in vulnerable situations, as well as for the countries and communities that generously host them. We also stand with the UNHCR personnel who are facing changes, recognising their invaluable efforts to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches those in need. We share the concern regarding significant budgetary shortfalls across the UN system, which have implications for UNHCR and its humanitarian partners.

  2. The EU and its Member States invite UNHCR to ensure safe, inclusive and targeted protection programming and uphold quality standards through protection mainstreaming, as well as to maintain dedicated protection expertise including on special protection from sexual and gender-based violence. We call on UNHCR to safeguard and pursue the Centrality of Protection in all its interventions ensuring that protection mainstreaming is systematically applied and that dedicated expertise remains available. 

  3. Even in these challenging times, the EU and its Member States remain stable, reliable and strategic partners to UNHCR. Last year, we collectively allocated over USD 1.3 billion to UNHCR. We also call on new donors to step up in supporting UNHCR and the humanitarian system. 

  4. As the UN approaches its eightieth anniversary, the EU and its Member States remain committed to effective multilateralism and to the rules-based international order, with the UN at its core. We thank UNHCR for engaging in the Humanitarian Reset, with concrete suggestions for the simplification and streamlining of the protection cluster. Structural reforms need to be seriously considered and “business as usual” is no longer an option, including on issues such as internal displacement and mixed movements of migrants and forcibly displaced persons. We encourage UNHCR to continue contributing to the UN80 Initiative and the Humanitarian Reset and align its ongoing internal review with these efforts. 

  5. The UN80 Initiative is a crucial and timely process. It provides an opportunity to strengthen the UN’s resilience and ability to act, address identified inefficiencies and weaknesses, and it requires close engagement with and support from the UN Member States. The goal of  this initiative is to make the UN stronger, more agile, transparent, cost-efficient, effective and accountable, ensuring it is fit for purpose and capable of delivering for all, across the three UN pillars (peace and security, human rights, sustainable development) on an equal basis, as well as on its humanitarian assistance activities. Reform proposals should take into account quantitative (costs) as well as qualitative factors while also taking into account the experiences from past reforms. It should address fragmentation, duplications and silos and improve interagency cooperation, exploring opportunities for more optimized synergies. For UNHCR, this also means better coordination as well as clarification on roles and mandates with IOM among other agencies.

  6. In the current financial context, it is even more crucial for UNHCR to implement the sustainable responses approach effectively and adapt it to each specific context. This should facilitate inclusion, self-reliance and a more robust engagement from governments, development actors, international financial institutions and the private sector. Paths towards economic and social inclusion as well as the empowerment of refugees and host communities must remain at the core of UNHCR’s priorities. We stand ready to engage further with UNHCR on durable solutions and the Route Based Approach.

 

Thank you.