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UNHCR / GRANDI AFGHANISTAN CONFERENCE
STORY: UNHCR / GRANDI AFGHANISTAN CONFERENCE
TRT: 1:55
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 27 NOVEMBER 2018, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Pan right, Council Chamber
2. Med shot, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and First Lady Rula Ghani of Afghanistan greeted by Grandi
3. Wide shot, podium
4. Med shot, Ghani speaking at the podium
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Executive of Afghanistan:
“I also hope our deliberations today will contribute and lead to a practical and sustainable solutions for the millions of Afghans who are displaced within their country and those who continue to live as refugees and migrants in other countries.”
6. Pan left, poster to podium where Grandi speaks
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees:
“Certainly, there is an urgent need to contribute to the humanitarian effort, both for the drought, the consequences of the drought, but also for those that are still refugees. And then there is a need for the international community to better link humanitarian assistance, especially in the country of origin, in Afghanistan, with longer-term development interventions.
8. Med shot, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees:
“There is an increasing emphasis on the reintegration of those who return, be they displaced people or refugees. Huge challenges there – climatic challenges – drought - security challenges, economic challenges, jobs. And that needs to be addressed with tailored programmes.”
10. Wide shot, young women in audience
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees:
“We know the challenges. They’re huge, especially in terms of security. And we hope that once the election cycle is over next year, the country can move back onto a more positive track and really create an environment conducive to reintegration of returnees.”
12. Cutaway, folder
13. Wide shot, conference
Finding solutions for some eight million displaced people is key to the country’s future, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told high-level event on Afghan refugees and returnees, on the sidelines of the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan.
The situation of Afghan refugees, and those who have returned to the country, are high on the agenda of the two-day Geneva Conference on Afghanistan, where the UN, donors like the European Union, and the Afghan government are taking stock of progress and remaining challenges to successful and sustainable reintegration.
Speaking at the event, Abdullah Abdullah, the Chief Executive of Afghanistan said he hoped that “our deliberations today will contribute and lead to a practical and sustainable solutions for the millions of Afghans who are displaced within their country and those who continue to live as refugees and migrants in other countries.”
After nearly four decades of conflict, Afghans remain one of the largest displaced populations in the world with approximately 6 million Afghans residing in Iran and Pakistan; over 850,000 residing in the EU; and an estimated 2 million internally displaced.
SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees:
“Certainly, there is an urgent need to contribute to the humanitarian effort, both for the drought, the consequences of the drought, but also for those that are still refugees. And then there is a need for the international community to better link humanitarian assistance, especially in the country of origin, in Afghanistan, with longer-term development interventions.”
The High Commissioner als spoke about challenges facing returnees such as “drought, security challenges, economic challenges, jobs” that need “to be addressed with tailored programmes” and said “we hope that once the election cycle is over next year, the country can move back onto a more positive track and really create an environment conducive to reintegration of returnees.”
Afghan refugees constitute almost 15 per cent of the global refugee population and more than half of the 4.1 million refugees in protracted forced displacement of 20 years or longer. With almost 2.4 million registered refugees (some 1.4 million in Pakistan and 950,000 in Iran), Afghanistan remains the second largest country of origin of refugees after Syria. In addition, some 3 million undocumented Afghans are estimated to be living in Pakistan (879,000 applied for Afghan Citizenship Cards and approximately 400,000 did not register) and 2 million in Iran.
The September 2016 signing of the New York Declaration laid the foundation for the Global Compacts on Refugees (GCR) and Migration (GCM). Afghanistan has officially announced its support for the implementation of the GCR and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). While the ongoing insecurity in Afghanistan presents challenges for large scale, sustainable return, some Afghans do return to their country of origin to rebuild their lives and raise their children as citizens of Afghanistan. Despite economic decline and other challenges, the GoIRA’s commitment to creating the political and socio-economic conditions for dignified and safe return of Afghans has not wavered. At the highest levels, the GoIRA has identified return and reintegration of its citizens as one of its key priorities and building blocks of its peace and reconciliation plan. The GoIRA and the international community have achieved some level of success in recent years toward addressing the problems associated with so many Afghans on the move. A number of large-scale, multi-partner reintegration programmes are being implemented around the country in line with the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework (ANPDF). These efforts have been appreciated by the principal countries hosting Afghans, which have long maintained that voluntary repatriation and sustainable reintegration is the preferred solution for Afghans residing on their territories.
However, given the current humanitarian context and systemic development challenges facing Afghanistan, return and sustainable reintegration of Afghans is a task that will require long-term interventions and investments, and which cannot be accomplished by the governments in the region alone.
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