Mr/Madam Chair, High Commissioner,

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

Thank you, High Commissioner, for your opening remarks. The EU and its Member States share your deep concern about the continuously rising number of forcibly displaced persons, due to war, conflicts, persecution and violence, as well as about the adverse effects of climate change. This is now combined with a global energy and food crisis and economic instability triggered by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has driven the fastest and largest displacement witnessed in decades, with 14 million Ukrainians forced to flee their homes since 24 February. We are proud of the Team Europe response to help those fleeing this senseless war, and commend UNHCR for its important work inside Ukraine and throughout the region. This war – taking place in the immediate EU neighborhood – has seriously affected the Ukrainian people, who are now facing unprecedented “weaponization” of winter conditions by deliberate attacks on its critical infrastructure, which may force even more people to flee in the coming weeks and month. However, the effects of this war are felt far beyond Ukraine and Europe, severely impacting many forcibly displaced persons and their host communities around the world.

In addressing the multiple challenges ahead, we are committed to do our part. The EU and its Member States are collectively one of the world’s leading humanitarian donors with more than USD 8 billion in 2022. So far in 2022, the EU and its Member States have contributed more than USD 1.2 billion to UNHCR, including significant contributions of unearmarked and multi-year funding by many Member States. The total EU humanitarian aid budget increased by 18% in 2022 to EUR 2.6 billion, of which approximately 80% is dedicated to supporting host communities and forcibly displaced persons. The EU also continues to dedicate 10% of its external development assistance budget to migration and forced displacement efforts, which amounts to EUR 8 billion.

We are also responding to the current food crisis in a Team Europe approach, addressing both emergency and longer-term needs. The level of EU humanitarian funding for food assistance has been considerably upscaled, reaching EUR 950 million so far in 2022. The Team Europe Global Food Security Response, adopted earlier this year, is backed by a substantial financial commitment of around EUR 8 billion for the period 2021-2024.

We want to take this opportunity to correct the perception that our legitimate focus on Ukraine has detracted our attention from other emergencies. Let us be clear: our funding to Ukraine is not made to the detriment of other crises. We stand by all our previous commitments made to strategic partners, like the African Union, including in the framework of our Africa-EU partnership, and maintain our full engagement in crisis situation in Asia, Americas and the Middle East. We have not diverted nor reduced funding from crises in other parts of the world.

However, UNHCR’s urgent funding shortfall of USD 700 million this year is alarming. This is a recurring issue for UNHCR, as well as other UN agencies, that has been exacerbated by the sharp increase in needs this year, as confirmed by the Global Humanitarian Overview.

The growing gap clearly indicates the need for a more robust “One UN” response, more synergies to be built between aid organizations and a stronger commitment from all stakeholders, donors and implementing organisations to a collective response along the triple nexus, with each actor contributing in line with its core strengths.

The overall gap between needs and available funding also calls for continued joint efforts with the UN system to expand the donor base. We have recently seen new and emerging donors pledging funds to the UN-coordinated humanitarian system. The EU and its Member States encourage these initiatives and are ready to engage in a dialogue on how to ensure these efforts could bring concrete financial resources in the future. This is particularly important for crises in the Middle East, like Syria and Yemen, where we expect regional actors to play a decisive role. One of the avenues for such a dialogue is the next European Humanitarian Forum.

Mr/Madam Chair, High Commissioner,

Allow me to stress that the support and engagement of the EU and its Member States is not limited to funding. We remain strongly committed to addressing the root causes of, as well as promoting durable solutions to, forced displacement through all our policy instruments in a joint up approach. We welcome the important discussions at the High Commissioner’s Dialogue starting tomorrow, on the role of development cooperation to address forced displacement, which is a crucial aspect also in view of our involvement in the 2023 Global Refugee Forum. We will engage in a spirit of partnership, including with refugees and refugee-led organizations, and thank UNHCR for its guidance throughout the future pledging process.

Finally, we would like to express our unwavering support to UNHCR’s efforts in preserving the centrality of protection in its response, including at inter-agency level, especially for women and girls and persons with disabilities. Addressing mental health and psychosocial support is key, in line with this year’s ExCom conclusions.

Thank you.