Assistance to Refugees, Returnees and Displaced Persons in Africa

A/RES/63/149View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 39 Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions, published in 2009.

What other versions does this mandate have?

34 versions · 1992–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/188

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/188	Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa	4,883	100%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/185	Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa	4,883	100%Compare
2023	A/RES/77/199	Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa	4,883	100%Compare
2022	A/RES/76/144	Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa	4,883	92%Compare
2020	A/RES/75/164	Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa	4,498	100%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

23 reports · 2002–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2026	A/81/347	Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/80/188
2024	A/79/326	Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/185
2023	A/78/183	Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/199
2022	A/77/313	Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/76/144
2021	A/76/290	Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/75/164

What’s in this document?

30 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General⁷ and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;⁸

⁷A/63/321.

⁸Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-third Session, Supplement No. 12 (A/63/12).

Notes the need for African States to address resolutely root causes of all forms of forced displacement in Africa and to foster peace, stability and prosperity throughout the African continent so as to forestall refugee flows;

Notes with great concern that, despite all of the efforts made so far by the United Nations, the African Union and others, the situation of refugees and displaced persons in Africa remains precarious, and calls upon States and other parties to armed conflict to observe scrupulously the letter and spirit of international humanitarian law, bearing in mind that armed conflict is one of the principal causes of forced displacement in Africa;

Welcomes decision EX.CL/Dec.423 (XIII) on the situation of refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa adopted by the Executive Council of the African Union at its thirteenth ordinary session, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on 27 and 28 June 2008;⁹

⁹See A/63/515, annex II.

Expresses its appreciation for the leadership shown by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and commends the Office for its ongoing efforts, with the support of the international community, to assist African countries of asylum and to respond to the protection and assistance needs of refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa;

Notes the initiatives taken by the African Union and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, in particular the role of its Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa;

Notes with appreciation the general conclusion on international protection adopted by the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at its fifty-ninth session, held in Geneva from 6 to 10 October 2008;¹⁰

¹⁰Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-third Session, Supplement No. 12A (A/63/12/Add.1), chap. III, sect. A.

Acknowledges the important contribution of the age, gender and diversity mainstreaming strategy in identifying, through a participatory approach, the protection risks faced by the different members of the refugee community, in particular the non-discriminatory treatment and protection of refugee women and refugee children and minority groups of refugees;

Affirms that children, because of their age, social status and physical and mental development, are often more vulnerable than adults in situations of forced displacement, recognizes that forced displacement, return to post-conflict situations, integration in new societies, protracted situations of displacement and statelessness can increase child-protection risks, taking into account the particular vulnerability of refugee children to forcible exposure to the risks of physical and psychological injury, exploitation and death in connection with armed conflict, and acknowledges that wider environmental factors and individual risk factors, particularly when combined, may generate different protection needs;

Recognizes that no solution to displacement can be durable unless it is sustainable, and therefore encourages the Office of the High Commissioner to support the sustainability of return and reintegration;

Also recognizes the importance of early registration and effective registration systems and censuses as a tool of protection and as a means to the quantification and assessment of needs for the provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance and to implement appropriate durable solutions;

Recalls the conclusion on registration of refugees and asylum-seekers adopted by the Executive Committee at its fifty-second session,¹¹ notes the many forms of harassment faced by refugees and asylum-seekers who remain without any form of documentation attesting to their status, recalls the responsibility of States to register refugees on their territories and, as appropriate, the responsibility of the Office of the High Commissioner or mandated international bodies to do so, reiterates in this context the central role that early and effective registration and documentation can play, guided by protection considerations, in enhancing protection and supporting efforts to find durable solutions, and calls upon the Office, as appropriate, to help States to conduct this procedure should they be unable to register refugees on their territory;

¹¹Ibid., Fifty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 12A (A/56/12/Add.1), chap. III, sect. B.

Calls upon the international community, including States and the Office of the High Commissioner and other relevant United Nations organizations, within their respective mandates, to take concrete action to meet the protection and assistance needs of refugees, returnees and displaced persons and to contribute generously to projects and programmes aimed at alleviating their plight and facilitating durable solutions for refugees and displaced persons;

Reaffirms the importance of timely and adequate assistance and protection for refugees, returnees and displaced persons, also reaffirms that assistance and protection are mutually reinforcing and that inadequate material assistance and food shortages undermine protection, notes the importance of a rights- and community-based approach in engaging constructively with individual refugees, returnees and displaced persons and their communities so as to achieve fair and equitable access to food and other forms of material assistance, and expresses concern in regard to situations in which minimum standards of assistance are not met, including those in which adequate needs assessments have yet to be undertaken;

Also reaffirms that respect by States for their protection responsibilities towards refugees is strengthened by international solidarity involving all members of the international community and that the refugee protection regime is enhanced through committed international cooperation in a spirit of solidarity and burden- and responsibility-sharing among all States;

Further reaffirms that host States have the primary responsibility to ensure the civilian and humanitarian character of asylum, calls upon States, in cooperation with international organizations, within their mandates, to take all necessary measures to ensure respect for the principles of refugee protection and, in particular, to ensure that the civilian and humanitarian nature of refugee camps is not compromised by the presence or the activities of armed elements or used for purposes that are incompatible with their civilian character, and encourages the High Commissioner to continue efforts, in consultation with States and other relevant actors, to ensure the civilian and humanitarian character of camps;

Condemns all acts that pose a threat to the personal security and well-being of refugees and asylum-seekers, such as refoulement, unlawful expulsion and physical attacks, calls upon States of refuge, in cooperation with international organizations, where appropriate, to take all necessary measures to ensure respect for the principles of refugee protection, including the humane treatment of asylum-seekers, notes with interest that the High Commissioner has continued to take steps to encourage the development of measures to better ensure the civilian and humanitarian character of asylum, and encourages the High Commissioner to continue those efforts, in consultation with States and other relevant actors;

Deplores the continuing violence and insecurity which constitute an ongoing threat to the safety and security of staff members of the Office of the High Commissioner and other humanitarian organizations and an obstacle to the effective fulfilment of the mandate of the Office and the ability of its implementing partners and other humanitarian personnel to discharge their respective humanitarian functions, urges States, parties to conflict and all other relevant actors to take all measures necessary to protect activities related to humanitarian assistance, prevent attacks on and kidnapping of national and international humanitarian workers and ensure the safety and security of the personnel and property of the Office and that of all humanitarian organizations discharging functions mandated by the Office, and calls upon States to investigate fully any crime committed against humanitarian personnel and bring to justice the persons responsible for such crimes;

Calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner, the African Union, subregional organizations and all African States, in conjunction with agencies of the United Nations system, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and the international community, to strengthen and revitalize existing partnerships and forge new ones in support of the protection system for refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced persons;

Calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner, the international community and other entities concerned to intensify their support to African Governments through appropriate capacity-building activities, including training of relevant officers, disseminating information about refugee instruments and principles, providing financial, technical and advisory services to accelerate the enactment or amendment and implementation of legislation relating to refugees, strengthening emergency response and enhancing capacities for the coordination of humanitarian activities, in particular those Governments that have received large numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers;

Reaffirms the right of return and the principle of voluntary repatriation, appeals to countries of origin and countries of asylum to create conditions that are conducive to voluntary repatriation, and recognizes that, while voluntary repatriation remains the pre-eminent solution, local integration and third-country resettlement, where appropriate and feasible, are also viable options for dealing with the situation of African refugees who, owing to prevailing circumstances in their respective countries of origin, are unable to return home;

Also reaffirms that voluntary repatriation should not necessarily be conditioned on the accomplishment of political solutions in the country of origin in order not to impede the exercise of the refugees’ right to return, recognizes that the voluntary repatriation and reintegration process is normally guided by the conditions in the country of origin, in particular that voluntary repatriation can be accomplished in conditions of safety and dignity, and urges the High Commissioner to promote sustainable return through the development of durable and lasting solutions, particularly in protracted refugee situations;

Calls upon the international donor community to provide financial and material assistance that allows for the implementation of community-based development programmes that benefit both refugees and host communities, as appropriate, in agreement with host countries and consistent with humanitarian objectives;

Appeals to the international community to respond positively, in the spirit of solidarity and burden- and responsibility-sharing, to the third-country resettlement needs of African refugees, notes in this regard the importance of using resettlement strategically, as part of situation-specific comprehensive responses to refugee situations, and to this end encourages States, the Office of the High Commissioner and other relevant partners to make full use of the Multilateral Framework of Understandings on Resettlement,¹² where appropriate;

¹²Available from www.unhcr.org.

Calls upon the international donor community to provide material and financial assistance for the implementation of programmes intended for the rehabilitation of the environment and infrastructure affected by refugees in countries of asylum;

Urges the international community, in the spirit of international solidarity and burden-sharing, to continue to fund generously the refugee programmes of the Office of the High Commissioner and, taking into account the substantially increased needs of programmes in Africa, inter alia, as a result of repatriation possibilities, to ensure that Africa receives a fair and equitable share of the resources designated for refugees;

Encourages the Office of the High Commissioner and interested States to identify protracted refugee situations which might lend themselves to resolution through the development of specific, multilateral, comprehensive and practical approaches to resolving such refugee situations, including improvement of international burden- and responsibility-sharing and realization of durable solutions, within a multilateral context;

Expresses grave concern about the plight of internally displaced persons in Africa, notes the efforts of African States in strengthening the regional mechanisms for protection of and assistance to internally displaced persons, calls upon States to take concrete action to pre-empt internal displacement and to meet the protection and assistance needs of internally displaced persons, recalls in that regard the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement,¹³ takes note of the current activities of the Office of the High Commissioner related to protection of and assistance to internally displaced persons, including in the context of inter-agency arrangements in this field, emphasizes that such activities should be consistent with relevant General Assembly resolutions and should not undermine the refugee mandate of the Office and the institution of asylum, and encourages the High Commissioner to continue his dialogue with States on the role of his Office in this regard;

¹³E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, annex.

Invites the Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons to continue his ongoing dialogue with Member States and the intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations concerned, in accordance with his mandate, and to include information thereon in his reports to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit a comprehensive report on assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session, taking fully into account the efforts expended by countries of asylum, under the item entitled “Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions”.

Assistance to Refugees, Returnees and Displaced Persons in Africa

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

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