New York Declaration

The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants was signed on the 19th of September 2016 by the UN General Assembly. All member states have agreed and signed a consensus document which affirms the protection and human rights of refugees and migrants. Together they are taking responsibility towards the community.
 
What Did They Commit To?
 
·       Protect the human rights of all refugees and migrants, regardless of status. This includes the rights of
        women and girls and promoting their full, equal and meaningful participation in finding solutions.
·       Ensure that all refugee and migrant children are receiving education within a few months of arrival.
·       Prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence.
·       Support those countries rescuing, receiving and hosting large numbers of refugees and migrants.
·       Work towards ending the practice of detaining children for the purposes of determining their migration status.
·       Strongly condemn xenophobia against refugees and migrants and support a global campaign to counter it.
·       Strengthen the positive contributions made by migrants to economic and social development in their host countries.
·       Improve the delivery of humanitarian and development assistance to those countries most affected, including
        through innovative multilateral financial solutions, with the goal of closing all funding gaps.
·       Implement a comprehensive refugee response, based on a new framework that sets out the responsibility of
        Member States, civil society partners and the UN system whenever there is a large movement of refugees or a
        protracted refugee situation.
·       Find new homes for all refugees identified by UNHCR as needing resettlement, and expand the
        opportunities for refugees to relocate to other countries through, for example, labour mobility or education schemes.
·       Strengthen the global governance of migration by bringing the International Organization for Migration into the
        UN system.
 
 
The Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework 

The New York Declaration sets out the key elements of a Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework to be applied to
​large-scale movements of refugees and protracted refugee situations.
The four key objectives of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework are to:

• Ease pressures on host countries
• Enhance refugee self-reliance
• Expand third-country solutions
• Support conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity

UNHCR is working with governments and other stakeholders to apply the Comprehensive Refugee Response.

Leaders’ Summit on Refugees​
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Following the adoption of the New York Declaration, the UN Secretary-General and seven Member States on September 20th 2016 co-hosted the Leaders’ Summit on Refugees to increase global responsibility sharing for refugees. At the summit, 47 States decided to commit to legal and policy changes to enhance refugees’ access to education, lawful employment and social services, substantially increased humanitarian aid, and expand access to third-country solutions, such as through resettlement or complementary pathways.
                                                      

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