Chair,

I am speaking on behalf of the EU and its Member States.

1.         African countries continue to face significant forced displacement challenges, due to protracted and escalating conflicts, violence and insecurity, exacerbated by the impact of climate change and resulting food and nutrition insecurity. They have also been affected by the devastating consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The relations with African countries, the African Union and other regional organizations are a priority for the EU and its Member States. We are proud to share similar values and approaches, such as compliance with international humanitarian law, finding durable solutions for refugees and asylum seekers in need of international protection, or addressing more comprehensively mixed migratory movements. This renewed commitment stemming from the Africa-EU partnership was further demonstrated by the revitalized tripartite cooperation of the AU-EU-UN Task Force, which was convened in November 2022 as a follow-up to the Sixth EU-AU Summit.

2.         We take very seriously the current African concerns linked to deepening security, food and economic crises, including in West and Central Africa. Following the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and conscious of its global impact, the EU and its Member States have not diverted support from other important crises. African people and countries can count on us to demonstrate solidarity through emergency response to humanitarian crises and to foster resilience through comprehensive humanitarian, development and peace initiatives, jointly with UN partners like UNHCR.

3.         We value the role played by UNHCR as lead of the Protection Cluster in West and Central Africa and encourage the organisation to fill vacant positions speedily. Efforts to improve coordination among partners and regarding protection analysis should be strengthened, for instance when it comes to durable solutions for refugees in Chad.  The EU and its Member States appreciate UNHCR’s engagement in advancing the localization agenda and we look forward to receiving more feedback regarding the impact and challenges of its implementation in the West and Central Africa region. We reiterate our zero tolerance approach to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, and welcome UNHCR’s continued commitment to prevent and respond to it, in particular throughout its various operations in Africa.

4.         The forced displacement in Central Sahel crisis shows no sign of abating and new security incidents continue. We remain concerned by the rising number of people forcibly displaced and underline the importance of contingency planning. In both Burkina Faso and Mali, limited access to displaced populations constitutes a major challenge. We call on all parties to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law and uphold humanitarian principles. The EU and its Member States note with concern the staggering number of 2.5 million internally displaced persons in the region, the majority of whom are in Burkina Faso. The same concern applies to Mali, where we would welcome scaled-up interventions on shelter and habitat, and a more robust role for UNHCR in guiding and advising governmental responsibilities for the largest IDP sites. In Niger, we commend UNHCR for having supported national authorities in registering forcibly displaced persons and the recognition of those without refugee status. Promising progress was made regarding durable solutions too, for instance in Diffa. We encourage UNHCR to continue working towards the full inclusion of forcibly displaced persons into national systems and ensure access to documentation for all, in line with its statelessness mandate.

5.         In Mauritania, we appreciate UNHCR's contributions to the political dialogue in favour of the progressive inclusion and integration of Malian refugees in national services and systems, as well as seeking better-linked humanitarian and development solutions, including through targeting. We continue supporting refugee status determination processes, as well as improving access to basic services.

6.         We thank UNHCR for its role in the Lake Chad Basin High-level Conference recently held in Niamey, Niger. We look forward to hearing from UNHCR how it will follow-up on the Conference and move further, in partnership with other UN organizations, towards operationalizing the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus. We also count on UNHCR to strongly advocate for the respect of the humanitarian principles in the Lake Chad area.

7.         In Nigeria, the EU and its Member States commend UNHCR for advocating in favour of the rights of Nigerian refugees who returned from neighbouring countries in 2022. We encourage UNHCR – together with other UN Agencies – to act as firm lead of the Protection Cluster, at a moment when humanitarian partners are facing growing challenges linked to camp closure and bureaucratic impediments. With regard to protection monitoring and documentation, we underline the importance of objective data related to all protection incidents. We reiterate our support to work with UNHCR on addressing internal displacement challenges in Northeast Nigeria.

8.         In the Central African Republic, a forgotten humanitarian crisis, the EU and its Member States recognize the efforts made by UNHCR, humanitarian partners and development actors to help IDPs and refugees resuming a normal live, despite a volatile security environment and inflationary pressures. We reaffirm our support for the CAR Solutions Platform. We would welcome more information on how the new strategy for durable solutions – for both returning IDPs and refugees – will be integrated into the national recovery and peacebuilding plan (RPCA). We would also appreciate further details on which coordination and funding mechanisms will be established. Since there is space to improve the quality of coordination in the protection sector, we stand ready to support UNHCR, including with international NGO partners involved.

9.         In Cameroon, the EU and its Member States look forward to further joint advocacy to promote humanitarian principles and human rights, especially in the Northwest, Southwest, and Far-North regions. In this context, we reiterate that humanitarian action should never be criminalised. Forcibly displaced people must not be harassed and protection should be guaranteed. Medical personnel must not be a target. In the framework of the Tripartite Agreement between UNHCR, Cameroon and Nigeria for the voluntary repatriation of Nigerian refugees living in Cameroon, we underline UNHCR’s key role in the protection of Nigerian refugees and returnees.

Thank you.