Doha, The United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly Clements underscored the significance of the role of the State of Qatar in supporting humanitarian efforts in various parts of the world, pointing out that Qatar has provided numerous relief assistance to refugees during the past years.
In a special interview with Qatar News Agency , Clements said Qatar has provided a roughly $400 million since 2010 to support the programmes and efforts of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), that primarily benefited 8.5 million of forcibly displaced individuals worldwide. She pointed out that this support is of paramount importance, as UNHCR aspires to the persistence of this critical support in the future.
UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees noted the strategic partnership between UNHCR and Qatar, as the country is one of the largest donors for UNHCR's programmes and activities, outlining that UNHCR operates in 550 hot spots in 135 nations worldwide.
She pointed out that there are nearly 110 million individuals who have been forced to flee their homes, and 35 million had to leave their homelands due to reasons related to war, conflict, violence, and persecution which are primarily the most critical displacement motives, as well as environmental factors, climate change, poverty, inequality, and other reasons.
She called for the importance of finding political solutions that contribute to ending conflicts worldwide, along with the safely return of refugees to their homelands, empowering targeted families to support themselves and provide protection for family members, and help them not only to survive, but to advance and prosper as well.
UNHCR's budget is currently $11 billion and is chiefly allocated for supporting refugees on the host communities that bear the brunt of responsibility for a long time, Clements stated, clarifying that UNHCR, in this fiscal year, has less than 40% of support it needs, which underscores the overwhelming humanitarian needs that are met.
Commenting on the surge in number of refugees worldwide due to the current circumstances, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees highlighted that the matter requires an international solidarity to overcome this issue, along with the support for UNHCR to help it provide relief services, water, shelter, medicines, and prompt education for displaced people in times of emergences.
She called for pursuing a different approach in partnering with development agencies with the aim of exploring solutions that help displaced people and refugees support themselves through a variety of operation programmes.
Speaking to QNA, Clements pointed to the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) adopted in 2018, which underscores the significance of the need for concerted efforts by the international community to prioritize the problem of the refugees, including the efforts of international organizations, governments, private sector, academics, and civil society to find methods of support and stand with host communities.
In a related context, Clements affirmed that what is happening now in Gaza is extremely horrific as there are numerous lives that have been taken with many sufferings of citizens happening there. She said UNHCR is deeply concerned about regional stability.
She pointed out that the current time is the most challenging one in UNHCRs history of and other UN refugee agencies, whether in terms of the number of wars, considering the lack of political solutions, number of displaced people, or the shortage of aid that must be provided to alleviate the humanitarian suffering. She added that exploring the solutions is more significant than any time before.
Clements said it is highly important for the international community to support the programmes and activities of UNHCR in order to help the agency alleviate this suffering, especially that most of refugees are not refugees for one day, but for a week, a month or even a year, indicating that this may extend over successive generations in some cases, which underscores the importance of cooperation with development partners and international financial institutions to fund projects targeting refugees in a variety of regions worldwide.
Source: Qatar News Agency