Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

A/RES/48/116No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 113Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions, published in 1994.

What else is in this group?

42 documents · 1987–2025

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2025).

2025A/RES/80/187Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesCompare with earlier document
2024A/RES/79/156Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesCompare with earlier document
2023A/RES/78/184Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesCompare with earlier document
2022A/RES/77/198Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesCompare with earlier document
2022A/RES/76/143Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesCompare with earlier document

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What does this mandate say?

23 operative paragraphs

Strongly reaffirms the fundamental importance of the function of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of providing international protection to refugees and the need for States to cooperate fully with her Office in order to facilitate the effective exercise of this function;

Calls upon all States that have not yet done so, including Governments of newly independent States, to accede to or to declare succession to and to implement fully the 1951 Convention 5/ and the 1967 Protocol 6/ relating to the Status of Refugees and relevant regional instruments for the protection of refugees;

Also calls upon all States to uphold asylum as an indispensable instrument for the international protection of refugees, and to respect scrupulously the fundamental principle of non-refoulement;

Urges States to ensure access, consistent with relevant international and regional instruments, for all asylum-seekers to fair and efficient procedures for the determination of refugee status and the granting of asylum to eligible persons;

Expresses deep concern regarding serious threats to the security or the well-being of refugees, including incidents of refoulement, unlawful expulsion, physical attacks and detention under unacceptable conditions, and calls upon States to take all measures necessary to ensure respect for the principles of refugee protection as well as the humane treatment of asylum-seekers in accordance with internationally recognized human rights norms;

Endorses, in this connection, the conclusions on the personal security of refugees and on refugee protection and sexual violence adopted by the Executive Committee of the Programme of the High Commissioner at its forty-fourth session; 2/

Welcomes the High Commissioner's policy on refugee children and the activities undertaken to ensure its implementation, aimed at ensuring that the specific needs of refugee children, including in particular unaccompanied minors, are fully met within the overall protection and assistance activities of the Office, in cooperation with Governments and other relevant organizations;

Acknowledges with appreciation the further progress made in the implementation of measures within the framework of the High Commissioner's programme to ensure the protection and to meet the assistance needs of refugee women and girls, in accordance with the High Commissioner's policy on refugee women;

Stresses the importance of international solidarity and burden-sharing in reinforcing the international protection of refugees, and urges all States, as well as non-governmental organizations, in conjunction with the Office of the High Commissioner, to cooperate in efforts to lighten the burden borne by States that have received large numbers of asylum-seekers and refugees;

Urges all States and relevant organizations to support the High Commissioner's search for durable solutions to refugee problems, including voluntary repatriation, integration in the country of asylum and resettlement in a third country, as appropriate, and welcomes in particular the ongoing efforts of her Office to pursue wherever possible opportunities to promote conditions conducive to the preferred solution of voluntary repatriation;

Encourages the High Commissioner, on the basis of her broad humanitarian experience and expertise, to continue to explore and to undertake protection and assistance activities aimed at preventing conditions that give rise to refugee outflows, bearing in mind fundamental protection principles, in close coordination with the Governments concerned, and within an inter-agency, intergovernmental and non-governmental framework, as appropriate;

Reaffirms its support for the High Commissioner's efforts, on the basis of specific requests from the Secretary-General or the competent principal organs of the United Nations and with the consent of the concerned State, and taking into account the complementarities of the mandates and expertise of other relevant organizations, to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to persons displaced within their own country in specific situations calling for the Office's particular expertise, especially where such efforts could contribute to the prevention or solution of refugee problems;

Reaffirms the importance of incorporating environmental considerations into the programmes of the Office of the High Commissioner, especially in the least developed countries, in view of the impact on the environment of the large numbers of refugees and displaced persons of concern to the High Commissioner;

Recognizes the need for the international community to explore methods and means better to address within the United Nations system the protection and assistance needs of internally displaced persons, and calls upon the High Commissioner to engage actively in further consultations on this priority issue with the Department of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, and with other appropriate international organizations and bodies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross;

Also recognizes the value of addressing prevention, protection and solutions on a comprehensive regional basis, and encourages the High Commissioner to consult with States, other relevant United Nations bodies and governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, concerning possibilities for additional measures and initiatives in areas affected by complex humanitarian problems involving coerced population movements;

Reaffirms the importance of promoting and disseminating refugee law and principles for the protection of refugees as well as of facilitating the prevention of and solutions to refugee problems, and encourages the High Commissioner to continue to strengthen the promotion and training activities of her Office, inter alia, through increased cooperation with bodies and organizations concerned with human rights and humanitarian law;

Urges States, the Office of the High Commissioner and non-governmental organizations to pursue their efforts to foster greater public understanding and acceptance of people of different backgrounds and cultures, with a view to dispelling hostile, racist or xenophobic attitudes and other forms of intolerance towards foreigners, including refugees and asylum-seekers, displaced people and persons belonging to minorities;

Notes the relationship between safeguarding human rights and preventing refugee problems, and reiterates its support for the High Commissioner's efforts to increase cooperation between her Office and the Commission on Human Rights, the Centre for Human Rights of the Secretariat and other relevant international bodies and organizations;

Welcomes the further progress made by the High Commissioner in enhancing the capacity of her Office to respond to humanitarian emergencies and encourages her to provide full support to the coordination role of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, especially in major and complex emergencies;

Encourages the High Commissioner to continue to cooperate fully, including within the framework of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, with United Nations agencies, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations, in order to ensure an effective response to complex emergency situations;

Welcomes the establishment by the High Commissioner of the Partnership in Action Process in conjunction with the International Council of Voluntary Agencies as a means of strengthening and improving collaboration between the Office of the High Commissioner and non-governmental organizations in meeting greatly increased demands, expresses its support for the process of consultations through regional preparatory meetings as well as for the global conference at Oslo in June 1994 and invites Governments to provide financial support to this important initiative;

Expresses deep concern at conditions in a number of countries and regions that seriously endanger the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the security of the staff of the High Commissioner and other relief workers, deplores the recent loss of lives among personnel involved in humanitarian operations, urges support for initiatives taken by the High Commissioner and within the General Assembly and the Security Council concerning the safety of United Nations and associated personnel, in particular the consideration of new measures to enhance the safety of such personnel, and calls upon States and all parties to conflicts to take all necessary measures to ensure safe and timely access for humanitarian assistance and the security of international and local staff undertaking humanitarian work in the countries concerned;

Calls upon all Governments and other donors to contribute to the programmes of the High Commissioner and, taking into account the need to achieve greater burden-sharing among donors, to assist the High Commissioner in securing additional and timely income from traditional governmental

sources, other Governments and the private sector in order to ensure that the needs of refugees, returnees and displaced persons of concern to the Office of the High Commissioner are met.

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Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

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