UNHCR 93d Standing Committee - EU Statement - Agenda item 3
European Union
UNHCR 93rd Standing Committee
16-18 June 2026
Agenda item 3: UNHCR’s engagement with internally displaced persons
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.
The EU and its Member States thank UNHCR for the background document on its engagement with internally displaced persons (IDPs). With internal displacement continuing to rise and becoming increasingly protracted, we remain deeply concerned by growing protection risks, the scale of unmet needs, and limited prospects for durable solutions in many contexts. Effective responses must be grounded in protection and shaped through meaningful engagement with displaced persons, affected communities and governments, including in addressing root causes of displacement.
We reaffirm our commitment to the Secretary-General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement and its three interlinked goals: meeting the protection and assistance needs of IDPs, preventing new and recurrent displacement, and advancing durable solutions. Governments carry the primary responsibility to protect and assist their displaced citizens, and we therefore stress the importance of supporting and working closely with national and local authorities to enable inclusive policies and delivery through national systems and development programmes wherever this is possible. This is also essential in order to reduce reliance on protracted humanitarian support and to create the conditions for durable solutions.
We welcome ongoing efforts by UNHCR, together with UNDP and IOM under the Global Solutions Hub, to maintain momentum on internal displacement and solutions, including through joint guidance and coordination structures. Building on this, we would appreciate a clearer, consolidated overview from all three agencies on where efforts are focused, what results are being pursued, and how progress is being measured and reported. In particular, we encourage UNHCR, UNDP and IOM to jointly clarify their coordination arrangements regarding respective roles responsibilities and comparative advantages in IDP settings— especially at country level—to avoid duplication, strengthen complementarity, and support national authorities most effectively.
In this regard, we see strong relevance in the ongoing UN80 initiative and the Humanitarian Reset. These efforts should translate into clearer division of labour, simplified coordination arrangements, and more effective delivery closer to affected people. We encourage UNHCR to continue working in a joint manner with UNDP and IOM through UN Country Teams under the Resident Coordinator (RC) leadership, and in close partnership with national and local authorities and other stakeholders. This should include systematic engagement with international financial institutions, notably the World Bank, to help scale durable solutions and strengthen national capacities and services. Wherever and as soon as this becomes feasible, humanitarian actors should put in place transition strategies to hand over support to development actors and national authorities.
Finally, we reiterate our interest in hearing more about progress in implementing UNHCR’s Strategic Plan for Protection and Solutions of Internally Displaced People (2024–2030), including follow-up to the IASC review on internal displacement. We encourage UNHCR and partners to apply transparent prioritisation criteria and ensure that durable solutions efforts remain firmly anchored in protection and inclusive national systems.
Thank you.