The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro^*, Serbia^*, Albania^*, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina^* and Georgia, align themselves with this intervention.

• Excellences, colleagues, thank you Ambassador Rae for convening this important ECOSOC Special Meeting on forced displacement and refugee protection and for today’s panel presentations.

• We recognize and appreciate Canada’s leadership on this issue.

• We also extend our thanks to High Commissioner Grandi for being with us today and acknowledge the essential role of UNHCR in working towards durable and inclusive solutions for displaced populations, including agency for youth refugee leaders whose voices should be heard in these rooms more often. We hope these might also be included in the proposed Call to Action.

• At a moment of “humanitarian reset”, this meeting is timely, as the need for global solidarity in refugee hosting, including support to host communities, requires our urgent attention.

• The European Union and its Member States have consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to shoulder their share of responsibility. Thus far, the EU and its Member States have allocated last year over 9 billion USD to support the provision of principled humanitarian assistance worldwide, including for forcibly displaced populations and host communities. Also the EU and its Member States have been the second largest donor to UNHCR providing 30% of UNHCR’s resources and currently is the main donor to UNHCR.

• The EU will continue stepping up action to uphold international law, international humanitarian law and human rights in relation to refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants, in particular the fundamental right to seek asylum and the principle of non-refoulement, and paying particular attention to persons in vulnerable situations. The EU has been working closely with partners to strengthen the international response and ensuring that refugees have the opportunity to lead productive, dignified lives, while receiving the support they need.

• Yet today we face unprecedented challenges, including protracted and intensifying conflicts, hybrid warfare, climate risks, and political instability, all of which contribute to rising global displacement.

• I would like to highlight three key elements, which we believe are central to maintaining and improving our responses to refugee needs and integration: 

   

  1. First, the European Union recognizes that effective refugee integration means creating opportunities for displaced individuals to become active contributors within their host communities, while also supporting host communities themselves. The EU has worked to support many refugee hosting communities, including in Turkey, Lebanon, and the Horn of Africa, to foster self-reliance through access to education, healthcare, and employment. We recognize that refugee inclusion boosts the economy by increasing workforce participation and enhancing productivity. By investing in skills training, language programs, and healthcare, refugees are not only able to improve their own well-being, but they also contribute to the growth of host countries.

      

  2. Second, humanitarian aid alone is insufficient to ensure long-term resilience. The EU works with local authorities and international development actors to create integrated systems that ensure refugees are included in national services. The EU’s commitment extends beyond immediate needs, focusing on strengthening national systems in sectors like education and healthcare, which benefit both refugees and host communities. For example, EU-funded programs in Lebanon have allowed over 210,000 refugee children to access education and improved the quality of teaching through training for more than 6,000 teachers.

1. Third, the EU is also working to ensure that people in need of protection or displaced in third countries have equitable access to mainstream legal migration channels linked to work and education, in line with national competences. The EU has provided funding to pilot projects promoting and expanding refugee labour mobility and complementary pathways linked to education. Finally, the Union Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Framework Regulation, adopted as part of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, aims to enhance the role of resettlement and humanitarian admission in strengthening EU partnerships with third countries hosting large populations of refugees.

Questions

Excellencies, colleagues, allow me to conclude with a few questions for our panel today: 

• Given the challenges faced by host countries with limited resources, how can the international community, all of us here today, better support them in creating an enabling environment for refugees to access essential services such as healthcare, education, and employment?

• How can the private sector play a larger role in supporting refugee inclusion, especially in terms of creating job opportunities and facilitating economic integration? Are there successful models of public-private partnerships that can be replicated?

Potential additional questions:

• Considering the challenges refugees face in acquiring employment opportunities, how can we ensure that refugees who gain skills can effectively access the job market? What steps are necessary to overcome obstacles such as documentation, qualification recognition, and barriers to entering formal job markets? Are there successful models that have proven effective and could be replicated in similar contexts?

• While many refugees gain skills through training programs, how can we better track and support their post-training journeys to ensure they are not left behind in terms of economic inclusion? - What role can digital platforms play in improving access to job opportunities?

• How is climate resilience being integrated into displacement strategies, especially in climate vulnerable or disaster prone regions, as we are seeing currently in Myanmar following the earthquake, or in regions like the Horn of Africa or the Sahel? 

• How can we better protect displaced women, children, and other vulnerable groups from sexual and gender-based violence and exploitation?

• How can local, refugee run programmes and organizations be better supported ´by the international community? 

* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.