UNHCR - 85th Standing Committee - EU Statement: Agenda Item 2: Programme budgets and funding

UNHCR - 85th Standing Committee - EU Statement: Agenda Item 2: Programme budgets and funding

Thank you, Chair.

I am speaking on behalf of the European Union as a donor.

We take note of the 2023 proposed programme budget, amounting to USD 10.2 billion. We are concerned about the magnitude of humanitarian and protection needs across all regions that have led to this very high projected budget. We are aware that the vulnerability and needs of populations worldwide have increased due to drivers such as disasters, climate change and conflicts, and recently been further aggravated by the global consequences of Russia's war on Ukraine. We note with concern that UNHCR's largest projected increase of refugees by 2023 is expected to be in Europe. We acknowledge UNHCR's complex task to cover the continuously growing needs of refugees, asylum-seekers, Internally Displaced Persons and stateless persons worldwide.

We have heard UNHCR's warning that in the coming year the organisation could be forced to reduce its protection and assistance delivery by up to 25%. While the EU has been undertaking strong efforts to address the complex situation in our Eastern Neighbourhood, we have also showed tangible solidarity with UNHCR's persons of concern affected by the fallout of the Ukraine crisis. Since 24 February, we have proactively reacted to mitigate a multifaceted - food, commodity prices and energy - crisis, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

As we will continue supporting UNHCR's mandate amid the global impact of this war, we would welcome regular updates on concrete operational consequences and prioritisation of resources by UNHCR, including the criteria used in case of funding shortfall. We appreciate the corresponding information given in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Will the prioritisation of life-saving activities that was applied in the COVID-19 context now be rolled out more broadly?

We welcome the explanations given by UNHCR on how the organisation arrived at the budget estimate for 2023, including on the cost categories. We invite UNHCR to provide more information on the outcome of discussions between UN agencies to harmonize cost categories, one of the commitments under the UN Funding Compact.

We consider it crucial that the budget is needs-based and clearly factors-in the implementation capacity of UNHCR and inter-agency collaboration. The growing needs can only be met through a strong collective effort, with all organisations contributing in line with their core strengths. We are quite concerned about the growing funding gap, a situation faced by many UN organisations. Therefore, we would welcome more information on how UNHCR intends to address this and whether there are related discussions with UN sister agencies.

The EU encourages UNHCR to keep working on expanding its donor base, recommending a joint-up approach with other UN agencies. We consider positive UNHCR's increased budgetary attention given to expanding the private sector partnership service and broadening partnerships with corporations, foundations and philanthropists.

We acknowledge UNHCR's efforts regarding results-based planning, budgeting, monitoring and reporting system as a continuation of the business transformation programme. We encourage UNHCR to regularly update its membership on this issue.

We welcome the robust implementation by UNHCR of its Grand Bargain commitment on localisation, and acknowledge the organisation's willingness to increase the number of local organisations led by displaced people that benefit from direct financial support.

We appreciate UNHCR's transparency in specifying budgetary variance, with both increases (in protection, solutions) and decreases (in response, empowering). However, in view of these variances, we would welcome more information on how UNHCR intends to adequately maintain policy priorities such as access to health and education in 2023. We also understand that the changes in the budget for Europe and Asia reflect the planned reduction in cash-based interventions in Afghanistan and Ukraine, as the focus would be moving to inclusion and integration. We would appreciate more detailed information on the parameters of this transition.

We note the proposed budgetary increase on self-reliance, economic inclusion, livelihoods and securing solutions, highlighting the stronger role of development cooperation relating to forced displacement since the Global Compact on Refugees. We encourage UNHCR to further mobilize development actors and international financial institutions, including in relation to the 2023 Global Refugee Forum.

To conclude, we thank UNHCR for its attention to preventing and responding to gender-based violence within the 2023 proposed programme budget. We call on a strong survivor-centred approach and an increase in cash assistance targeting victims.

Thank you.