Speeches of António Guterres as UNHCR

Ministerial Conference on Refugee Protection and International Migration: Almaty Process

June 5, 2013

It is with great pleasure that I join you today as a co-organiser of this second Ministerial Conference on Refugee Protection and International Migration in Central Asia, together with IOM and the Government of Kazakhstan, which is generously hosting us here today. I am encouraged to see the strong representation from the countries participating in the Almaty Process, as this speaks to the importance that asylum and migration issues have in this region.

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Remarks at the 5th Tokyo International Conference of African Development

June 2, 2013

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. Over the past 20 years, TICAD has become one of the largest international platforms for cooperation with Africa, and I am very pleased that issues of forced displacement and durable solutions for its victims remain high on the agenda.

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High-level International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria

January 30, 2013

Syria is without a doubt the most complex and dangerous of the terrible conflicts facing the world today. It has huge geostrategic implications and constitutes a serious threat to peace and security, both at the regional and at the global level. It is also the crisis with the worst humanitarian consequences.

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High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges: Faith and Protection

December 12, 2012

It is my pleasure to welcome you to Geneva for this year's Dialogue on Protection Challenges. Previous Dialogues – on asylum and migration, protracted refugee situations, urban refugees, and protection gaps and responses – centred on some of the emerging protection challenges in today's world and explored their operational implications. This year, we have instead chosen to take a moment to reflect on some of the values and principles in the world's different religions that underpin the notion of protection, and which unite us and our partners in our action on behalf of asylum-seekers, refugees, internally displaced and stateless people.

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Security Council on the Sahel

December 10, 2012

Il y a juste quatre jours, nous avons vu l'entrée en vigueur du premier cadre juridique contraignant sur les droits des déplacés internes – la Convention de l'Union africaine sur la protection et l'assistance des déplacés internes en Afrique, communément appelée Convention de Kampala. Plusieurs pays de la région du Sahel, y compris tout récemment le Mali, ont ratifié ce traité qui fera date.

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Opening remarks to the 63rd session of the Executive Committee

October 1, 2012

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to this sixty-third session of the Executive Committee. I wish to extend a particularly warm welcome to our new ExCom members, Azerbaijan and Rwanda, and look forward to a fruitful dialogue in the coming week.

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Security Council on the Syrian refugee situation

August 30, 2012

Syria has a long and generous history of providing refuge to people in need of sanctuary, including Palestinian and Iraqi refugees. It is now particularly heartbreaking to see so many Syrian citizens losing their lives, uprooted from their homes, or trapped in war zones.

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OIC Ministerial Conference on “Refugees in the Muslim World”

May 11, 2012

It is with great pleasure that I join you today as a co-organiser of this historic conference with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Government of Turkmenistan, to discuss refugees in the Muslim World. As United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, I greatly value the close cooperation we enjoy with the OIC and its member States. That our strong cooperation is crucial is clear from the realities of displacement in today's world.

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“The changing face of global displacement: responses and responsibilities”, Address to the Lowy Institute for International Policy

February 21, 2012

Less than two months ago, UNHCR concluded a year-long campaign to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Inevitably, these anniversaries have led us to reflect on the state of the 43.7 million people worldwide – about twice the population of Australia – who have been forcibly displaced from their homes by conflict and persecution. To meet their protection needs in the next decade will require a sound understanding of the changing dynamics of displacement, and the responses available to the international community.

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Opening remarks at the Intergovernmental Meeting at Ministerial Level to mark the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness

December 7, 2011

I am honoured and encouraged knowing we have 800 participants – representing some 145 governments and nearly 60 organizations – assembled here today to commemorate with us the anniversaries of the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. This speaks to the importance which the protection of refugees and stateless persons holds for the international community, and is a signal of our shared desire to reaffirm and reinforce that protection.

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